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THE 
REIGN  OF  PATTI 


MME.   PATT1   AS   ROSINA 
From    a    painting    by    Winterhalter 


THE 
REIGN  OF  PATTI 


BY 


HERMAN  KLEIN 

Author  of  "Thirty  Years  of  Musical 
Life  in  London,"  etc. 


ILLUSTRATED  WITH 
PHOTOGRAPHS 


tawfrvynK 


NEW  YORK 
THE  CENTURY  CO. 


Copyright,   1920,  by 
Tin:  Century  Co. 


PRINTED  IN  THE  U.  S.  A. 


PJZ7A 


IN  MEMORY  OF 
THE  GREAT  SINGER 

I  DEDICATE  THIS  BOOK  OF  HER  LIFE 
TO  HER  HUSBAND 

BARON  ROLF  CEDERSTROM 


101 


PREFACE 

THE  Reign  of  Patti  should  be  dated  from  her  conquest  of 
the  London  public  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  Covent 
Garden,  in  May,  1861.  It  ended,  properly  speaking,  with  her 
final  appearances  in  opera  at  the  same  house  in  1895,  a  period 
covering  thirty-four  years.  But  if  we  include  her  subsequent 
labors  as  a  concert  singer,  until  her  ultimate  farewell  at  the 
Royal  Albert  Hall  in  December,  1906,  her  reign  must  be  said 
to  have  lasted  for  more  than  forty-five  years. 

Again,  if  we  reckon  the  interval  precedent  to  the  actual 
"reign,"  from  the  date  when  she  made  her  New  York  debut  as 
a  child  prodigy  (cctat  7)  in  1850,  it  will  be  seen  that  the  total 
length  of  Adelina  Patti 's  active  and  unbroken  career  as  a  pub- 
lic singer  extended  over  no  fewer  than  fifty-six  years.  In 
any  or  either  case,  she  beat  every  record  for  legitimate  artis- 
tic longevity  known  to  musical  history,  including  those  of 
John  Braham  and  Sims  Reeves. 

Her  preeminence  as  a  vocalist  was  no  less  pronounced. 
Catalani,  Pasta,  Malibran,  Jenny  Lind,  Grisi,  may  have  been 
singers  as  great  as  Patti.  That  no  critic  now  living  is  in  a 
position  to  determine.  But,  at  best,  those  famous  artists  only 
divided  between  them  the  honors  due  to  "queens  of  opera" 
during  the  first  half  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  honors 
of  the  second  half  were  wholly  and  exclusively  monopolized  by 
Patti.  Alike  as  to  the  particular  quality  of  her  genius,  its 
versatility,  the  natural  beauty  of  her  organ,  the  perfection  of 
her  technique,  the  universality  of  her  fame,  and  the  undying 
strength  of  her  popularity,  she  stood  alone,  utterly  beyond  the 
pale  of  rivalry.  The  "Queen  of  Song,"  as  she  was  commonly 
called,  was  equally  the  solitary  "Queen  of  Opera"  of  her  time. 

For  the  suggestion  of  the  title  of  this  book  I  am  indebted 

vii 


viii  PREFACE 

indirectly  to  ray  friend  Mr.  II.  E.  Krehbiel,  so  long  the  emi- 
nent musical  critic  of  the  New  York  Tribune.  In  the  course 
of  an  "Appreciation  of  Patti" — not  the  least  eloquent  page 
in  his  interesting  "Chapters  of  Opera,"1 — he  speaks  of  a 
"period  which  ought  to  be  referred  to  for  all  time  in  the 
annals  of  music  as  the  Reign  of  Patti."  The  hint  has  been 
taken  with  thanks. 

Many  years  ago,  during  one  of  my  earlier  visits  to  Craig-y- 
Nos  Castle,  I  asked  Mme.  Patti  whether  she  meant  ever  to  give 
to  the  world  the  story  of  her  life.  "Yes,"  she  said,  "I  am 
going  to  do  so  very  shortly";  then  added  in  one  of  her  quaint 
whispers:  "I  will  tell  you  in  confidence  that  our  friend 
Beatty  Kingston  is  going  to  help  me  to  write  it." 

Time  went  on.  Beatty  Kingston  died;  and  there  came  no 
sign  of  the  autobiography.  So  far  as  I  could  ascertain,  he 
had  never  written  a  line  or  even  begun  to  collate  his  material. 
One  day  I  put  the  question  anew:  "What  about  this  story 
of  your  life?"  "It  is  not  yet  written,"  answered  Mme.  Patti, 
"but  I  am  determined  that  it  shall  be  done,  and  now  I  am 
going  to  ask  you  if  you  will  be  my  collaborateur?"  Unhesi- 
tatingly and  with  alacrity  I  accepted  a  task  that  I  regarded  at 
once  as  a  duty  and  an  honor. 

Notwithstanding  this,  delays  occurred,  and  the  work  still 
remained  unstarted.  First  there  was  the  illness  and  death  of 
Nicolini.  Not  long  afterward  came  the  nuptial  event  related 
in  the  twentieth  chapter  of  this  book;  and  from  that  day 
there  was  no  further  chance  of  writing  a  life  of  Patti  from 
her  own  notes  and  personal  recollections.  These  would  as- 
suredly have  constituted  a  precious  fountain  of  biographical 
detail,  anecdote,  and  incident.  On  the  other  hand,  her  letters, 
penned  in  an  Italian  hand  of  characteristic  neatness,  while 

iNew  York:     Henry  Holt  &  Co.,  1909.     See  Appendix  U. 


PREFACE  ix 

remarkable  always  for  their  depth  of  cordial  sentiment  or  their 
affectionate  warmth,  reveal  no  features  of  absorbing  interest. 

It  was  not  only  because  Mme.  Patti  had  designated  me  as 
her  " collaborateur"  that  I  decided  six  years  ago,  on  my  own 
initiative,  to  undertake  this  work.  It  was  also  because  I  had 
in  my  possession  much  of  the  material  essential  for  it ;  because 
I  had  closely  followed  the  course  of  her  unique  career  from 
its  zenith  to  its  close;  because  I  had  been  her  friend  as  well 
as  her  critic,  had  listened  "many  a  time  and  oft"  to  her  own 
viva-voce  remarks  about  the  people  and  the  events  of  her 
epoch.  Thus  I  have  quoted  her;  I  have  quoted  the  men  who 
wrote  of  her;  I  have  even  ventured  to  quote  myself.  Not 
least  of  all,  where  opinion  or  statement  has  been  controversial, 
I  have  carefully  weighed  the  evidence  on  both  sides  and 
striven  to  arrive  at  a  true  and  impartial  judgment. 

Only  two  serious  difficulties  beset  me  in  the  fulfilment  of  this 
" labor  of  love."  One  was  the  sparseness  of  either  authentic 
or  reliable  information  concerning  Patti 's  childhood  and  her 
juvenile  career.  The  whole  story  has  never  been  set  forth  in 
coherent  form  or  with  the  minuteness  of  detail  that  it  deserved. 
The  ascertainable  facts  had  to  be  pieced  together  for  the 
first  time. 

The  other  difficulty  was  to  limit  the  use  of  superlatives  and 
avoid  the  semblance  of  hyperbole  in  writing  about  the  life 
and  achievements  of  a  most  extraordinary  artist.  In  this  re- 
spect she  was  the  despair  of  every  journalist  who  tried  to  do 
her  justice  during  her  crowded  half-century  of  public  tri- 
umphs. Eepetition  has  in  the  circumstances  been  inevitable. 
To  a  charge  of  exaggeration,  however,  the  author  would  refuse 
to  plead  guilty.  The  reader  of  these  pages  who  is  too  young 
to  have  heard  Patti  in  her  best  days,  and  who  cannot  conceive 
the  wonder  of  the  miracle  that  she  was,  must  be  content  now 
to  "mark,  learn,  and  inwardly" — believe. 

London,  November,  1919. 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS 

Mme.  Patti  as  Rosina Frontispiece 

FACING 
PAGE 

Adelina  Patti  at  the  Age  of  Nine 32 

Adelina  Patti  at  the  Age  of  Ten 36 

Adelina  Patti  with  her  Father 45 

In  London,  1861 56 

Amina,  1862 56 

Rosina,  1862 80 

Violetta,  1862 80 

Dinorah,  1862    . 97 

Martha,  1863 97 

In  Paris,  1862 112 

Lucia,  1863 129 

Norma,  1863 129 

Marguerite,  1864 148 

Patti,  Mario,  and  Faure  in  "Faust" 157 

La  Caterina,  1866 161 

Leonora,  1866 161 

Adina,  1866 164 

Patti  and  Mario 164 

Mario  as  Faust 168 

Linda  Di  Chamouni,  1867 173 

Giovanna  D'Areo,  1868 173 

In  St.  Petersburg,  1869 176 

In  Paris,  1869 180 

La  Reine,  1870 184 

In  Paris,  1870 189 


ILLUSTRATIONS 


FACIHO 
PAGE 


Desdemona,  1871 193 

Marie,  1871 196 

Aida,  1876 205 

Ernest  Nicolini,  1887 208 

At  Craig-y-Nos 224 

Mrae.  Patti  with  her  Niece  Carlina,  1887 241 

Juliette,  1888 256 

Craig-y-Nos  Castle,  Mme.  Patti's  Welsh  Home 273 

The  "Lost  Gainsborough" 296 

Line  of  Music  Improvised  by  Mme.  Patti 309 

In  the  Late  Sixties 316 

The  Elixir  of  Youth,  1898 336 

Casket  Presented  with  the  Freedom  of  Brecon 353 

Casket  Presented  with  the  Freedom  of  Swansea       ....  353 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 


CHAPTER  I 

Parentage  and  Birth  (1843) — Story  of  the  Patti  Family — Hereditary 
Vocal  Influences — "Norma"  and  Her  New  Baby — The  Opera  and  Its 
Sequel — The  Fiction  of  the  Green-Room — The  Madrid  Baptismal 
Register — A  Call  to  America — The  Patti  Family  Emigrates — Italian 
Opera  in  New  York  (1845-47) — Max  Maretzek — Managerial  Fiasco — 
The  Child  at  the  Opera 


<  <  iy  M  Y  father  was  a  Sicilian ;  my  mother  a  native  of  Rome ;  I 
1YJ.  saw  the  light  of  the  world  in  Madrid,  where  they  were 
both  singing  during  the  Italian  season,  and  I  was  brought  up 
in  New  York." 

Here,  in  her  own  words,  uttered  in  1877  to  her  friend 
Eduard  Hanslick,  the  famous  Viennese  critic,1  stands  the  brief 
record  of  the  nationality  and  parentage  of  Adelina  Patti,  the 
greatest  singer  of  her  time,  and,  as  many  have  thought,  the 
greatest  operatic  soprano  of  all  time.  It  was  her  fortunate 
destiny  to  be  able  to  look  back  upon  a  half  a  century  of  tri- 
umphs more  brilliant,  more  numerous  than  ever  before  fell  to 
the  lot  of  prima  donna.  Her  public  career,  which  began  in 
1850  and  terminated  in  1906,  has  had  no  parallel  in  the  annals 
of  musical  history. 

The  story  of  the  Patti  family  reads  like  a  romance.  Its 
main  interest  starts,  of  course,  with  the  epoch-making  event 
that  occurred  at  Madrid  in  the  spring  of  1843.  Still,  it  is 
worth  tracing  a  little  farther  back,  if  only  for  the  sake  of 
noting  the  source  of  those  hereditary  influences  which  played 
so  important  a  part  in  the  growth  and  development  of  a  very 

i  "Musikalische  Stationen,"  Berlin,  1880. 

3 


4  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

remarkable  genius.  One  hears  commonly  enough,  the  term  ' '  a 
born  singer."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  singer  to  whom  it  can 
be  justly  applied  is  a  rara  avis  indeed;  and  the  particular 
gifts  that  warranted  it  in  the  case  of  Adelina  Patti  must  be 
attributed  to  an  especial  degree  to  causes  with  which  heredity 
and  family  surroundings  are  intimately  connected. 

To  what  extent  her  ancestors  were  musical  there  is  no 
evidence  to  show.  All  we  know  is  that  her  parents  were  of 
pure  Italian  blood — Sicilian  on  the  paternal,  Roman  and 
Venetian  on  the  maternal  side.  It  has  bpen  stated,  with  ap- 
parent good  reason,  that  through  the  mother's  family  there 
had  descended  a  strain  of  decided  artistic  temperament;  but 
whether  tending  in  the  direction  of  the  theatre  it  is  hard  to 
say.  Enough  that  in  the  generation  which  concerns  us — 
namely,  those  two  worthy  opera  singers  whose  chief  claim  to 
distinction  in  this  world  lay  in  the  fact  that  they  were  the 
father  and  mother  of  Adelina  Patti — musical  talent  revealed 
itself  with  unmistakable  opulence. 

Salvatore  Patti  was  a  native  of  Catania.  Trained  for  the 
operatic  stage,  he  became  an  acceptable  tenore  robusto  and 
found  plentiful  occupation  in  the  principal  Sicilian  towns. 
There,  in  1837,  he  fell  in  love  with  the  leading  prima  donna 
of  the  troupe  in  which  he  was  singing.  Dark,  good-looking, 
not  yet  out  of  his  twenties,  a  first-rate  hand  at  love-making 
both  on  and  off  the  stage,  he  seems  to  have  proved  quite  irre- 
sistible to  his  fair  colleague.  Indeed,  everybody  liked  Salva- 
tore Patti.  Forty  years  later  Dr.  Hanslick,  speaking  of  him 
to  his  famous  daughter,  described  him,  on  the  occasion  of  her 
first  visit  to  Vienna,  as  "the  calm,  good-natured  chairman, 
serving  out  the  soup  at  the  head  of  your  small  family  table. ' ' x 
Only  then  he  was  a  "tall  and  stately  man  with  long  white  hair 
and  black  eyes."     Here  in  Catania  he  was  the  young,  hot- 

i  "Musikalische  Stationen." 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  5 

blooded  Sicilian  tenor,  courting  a  proud  Roman  matron  upon 
his  native  heath. 

Truth  to  tell,  Signora  Caterina  Barili,  nee  Chiesa,  was  no 
longer  in  the  first  flush  of  youth,  but  a  widow  with  three  boys 
and  a  girl.  These  were  the  children  of  her  brief  but  happy 
marriage  with  a  well-known  singing  master  and  composer 
named  Barili.  He  had  seen  her  one  day  when,  like  another 
Rebecca,  she  was  drawing  water  from  a  well  (otherwise  a 
Roman  fountain)  and  singing  blithely  over  her  task.  Struck 
by  her  voice  and  good  looks,  he  married  her  and  trained  her 
for  opera.  She  quickly  made  her  debut  and  won  an  emphatic 
success. 

Then  Barili  died,  leaving  behind  him  only  a  name  and  the 
aforesaid  children,  Ettore,  Antonio,  Nicolo,  and  Clotilda. 
With  such  a  burden  upon  her  shoulders,  the  widow  was  only 
too  glad  to  continue  the  pursuit  of  her  profession.  Fortu- 
nately, hers  was  an  increasing  reputation,  especially  in  south- 
ern Italy.  In  Naples  she  was  a  favorite;  so  much  so  that  (ac- 
cording to  a  proud  family  tradition)  she  made  even  the 
illustrious  Grisi  jealous,  and  the  latter,  "having  on  one  ocea- 
'  sion  been  thrown  into  the  shade  by  her,  would  not  again  ap- 
pear in  the  same  town  with  her. ' '  Be  this  as  it  may,  history 
vouches  for  the  fact  that  when  Donizetti  produced  his  opera, 
"The  Siege  of  Calais,"  at  Naples  in  1836,  he  wrote  the  part 
of  the  heroine  for  Signora  Barili,  who  duly  created  it. 

In  the  following  year  she  married  Salvatore  Patti.  The 
two  artists  continued  their  careers  for  three  or  four  years  in 
Italy,  where  their  first  two  children,  Amalia  and  Carlotta, 
were  born.  Later  they  began  an  annual  engagement  for  the 
season  of  Italian  opera  at  Madrid ;  and  there,  in  1842,  Signora 
Barili-Patti  gave  birth  to  her  son  Carlo,1  who,  with  the  four 

*  Destined  to  become  a  violinist  and  conductor  of  some  repute  in  the 
United  States.  After  many  wanderings  he  settled  down  at  Memphis, 
and  died  at  St.  Louis  in  1873. 


6  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

small  Barili  children  and  the  Patti  girl  babies,  brought  the 
juvenile  family  up  to  a  total  of  seven. 

Happily,  the  tale  was  not  to  end  at  the  magic  number.  In 
February  of  1843  this  industrious  mother  was  again  singing 
in  opera  at  Madrid,  and  even  now  another  addition  to  the 
growing  circle  was  known  to  be  close  at  hand.  However,  little 
affairs  of  this  kind  seem  to  have  made  no  difference  to  her; 
so  long  as  her  voice  remained  in  good  order — and  evidently 
it  did — nothing  else  mattered.  The  shadow  of  the  coming 
event  did  not  deter  her  from  undertaking,  on  the  evening  of 
the  9th,  the  tolerably  exacting  role  of  Norma. 

Otherwise  the  appropriateness  of  the  character  was  beyond 
question.  Xorma  is  essentially  a  motherly  sort  of  person; 
albeit  at  one  moment  of  the  opera  an  unkind  fate  well-nigh 
impels  her  to  the  desperate  expedient  of  taking  her  children's 
lives.  Whether  the  latter  were  represented  in  this  instance  by 
a  couple  of  the  Barili  boys  or  by  the  usual  borrowed  mites 
fAmalia  and  Carlotta  being  slill  too  tiny  for  the  purpose), 
history  does  not  relate.  But  it  is  certain  that  the  excellent 
prima  donna  went  through  her  part  with  courage  and  her 
wonted  energy  to  the  end — or  very  nearly  to  the  end — of  the 
opera.     It  was  only  then  that  trouble  began. 

Many  pretty  variations  have  been  invented  to  lend  color  to 
a  sufficiently  interesting  episode.  One  of  these,  which  ob- 
tained considerable  currency  in  the  sixties,  declared  that 
"the  diva  was  actually  born  in  the  green-room  of  an  opera- 
house.  Her  mother,  a  prima  donna  of  some  talent,  was  sing- 
ing with  the  celebrated  Signor  Sinico,  when  she  was  suddenly 
taken  ill  and  carried  to  the  green-room,  where  Adelina  Patti 
was  born.  Sinico  has  related  how  in  haste  he  tore  up  his 
wardrobe  to  find  wraps  for  the  infant,  little  guessing  it  would 
be  the  greatest  singer  in  the  world. ' ' 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  the  "celebrated"  author 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  7 

of  this  story  evolved  it  from  what  Americans  call  "whole 
cloth";  and,  for  a  person  of  such  vivid  imagination,  it  is  a 
wonder  his  "guessing"  powers  were  not  yet  more  enterpris- 
ing. When  he  related  this  version  of  the  occurrence  Signor 
Sinico x  had  for  some  years  been  a  teacher  of  singing  in 
London,  and  possibly  his  memory  had  begun  to  play  him 
tricks.  The  legend  at  the  wraps,  apart  from  its  inherent  im- 
probability, was  as  far  from  the  truth  as  the  statement  re- 
garding the  locale  of  the  event  itself. 

For,  to  be  strictly  accurate,  the  baby  was  not  born  until 
four  o'clock  on  the  following  afternoon.  That  "Norma"  was 
first  of  all  carried  to  the  green-room,  there  is  no  reason  to 
doubt ;  but  it  passes  the  limits  of  ordinary  credence  that  she 
should  be  allowed  to  remain  there  for  some  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen hours,  even  with  the  resources  of  Signor  Sinico  and  his 
wardrobe  at  hand.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the  worthy 
Salvatore  was  also  on  the  spot,  and  lost  no  time  in  having  his 
wife  removed  to  their  lodgings — a  proceeding  fraught  with 
little  risk  in  the  case  of  so  robust  a  mere  de  famille.  And 
there,  on  the  afternoon  of  the  10th  of  February,  the  tiny 
stranger  duly  made  her  first  appearance  and  improvised  her 
first  cadenza  on  the  world's  stage. 

Naturally,  an  event  of  such  engrossing  interest  and  im- 
portance, taking  place  under  unusual  conditions,  was  narrated 
in  after  years  by  others  besides  Signor  Sinico.  His  account, 
however,  is  noted  here  not  merely  because  of  its  picturesque- 
ness,  but  because  he,  of  all  men,  was  most  under  a  moral 
obligation  to  state  the  exact  facts  and  not  glorify  himself  at 
the  expense  of  truth.  The  reason  for  this  is  that  some  two 
months  after  the  birth  of  the  wonder-child  whose  future  he 
could  not  "guess,"  Sinico  and  his  wife  were  standing  as  spon- 
sors for  her  at  the  baptismal  font  of  a  neighboring  church. 

1  He  was  the  father  (by  a  second  marriage)  of  the  well-known  so- 
prano, Madame  Sinico,  who  sang  in  London  for  many  seasons  under 
Mapleson's  management  at  Her  Majesty's  and  Drury  Lane. 


8  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  date  of  Adelina  Patti's  birth  was  for  many  years  in- 
correctly given  in  every  published  musical  dictionary.  In  the 
earlier  editions  of  "Fetis"  the  name  of  Patti  was  not  even 
included  among  existing  singers.  The  second  edition,  printed 
in  1868,  still  ignored  an  artist  who  had  for  seven  years  been 
creating  a  sensation  all  over  Europe,  yet  spared  thirteen  pages 
for  a  biography  of  Paganini !  In  the  first  edition  of  "Grove" 
the  date  was  wrongly  stated  as  February'  19,  1843 ;  and,  curi- 
ously enough  (thus  perhaps  accounting  for  the  mistake),  the 
19th  was  the  day  of  the  month  which  for  a  long  while  Mme. 
Patti  herself  observed  as  her  jour  de  fete.  Others  have  men- 
tioned April  8;  but  that  was  the  date  of  the  ceremony  of 
baptism. 

Dr.  Hugo  Ptiemann,  in  his  Dictionary  of  Music,  was  the  first 
authority  to  give  the  correct  date,  namely,  February  10.  It 
may  be  assumed  that  he  derived  it  from  the  copy  of  the  bap- 
tismal register  which  was  made  in  Madrid  and  first  published 
some  five-and-twenty  years  ago.  Anyhow,  a  translation  of 
this  unimpeachable  document  shall  be  given  here: 

Book  of  Baptisms,  No.  42,  page  153.  In  the  City  of  Madrid,  Prov- 
ince of  the  same  name,  on  April  8,  1843,  I,  Don  Josef  Losada, 
Vicar  of  the  Parish  of  St.  Louis,  solemnly  baptized  a  girl,  born  at 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  10th  February  of  the  current 
year,  the  legitimate  daughter  of  Salvatore  Patti,  professor  of  music, 
born  at  Catania,  in  Sicily,  and  of  Caterina  Chiesa,  born  in  Rome. 
The  paternal  .Grandparents  were  Pietro  Patti  and  Concepcion 
Marino,  and  the  maternal  were  John  Chiesa,  born  at  Venice,  and 
Louise  Caselli,  born  at  Marino,  in  the  Pontifical  States. 

The  child  was  given  the  names  of  Adela  Juana  Maria. 

There  assisted  at  the  baptism  as  godfather  Giuseppe  Sinico,  of 
Venice,  professor  of  music,  and,  as  godmother,  his  wife,  Rosa  Monara 
Sinico,  born  at  Cremona,  in  Lombardy,  whom  I  have  warned  of  the 
spiritual  duties  they  have  contracted  to  fulfil  by  this  act ;  and  as 
witnesses  Julien  Huezal  and  Casimir  Garcia,  born  at  Madrid,  sacris- 
tans of  this  parish. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  9 

In  witness  whereof  I  have  signed  and  delivered  the  present  cer- 
tificate, 8th  April,  etc. 

Josef  Losada. 

The  Madrid  opera  season  terminated  at  Easter,  when  the 
Patti  family-^went  back  to  Italy  and  settled  down  for  a  time 
at  Milan.  (jThere  the  tiny  Adelina  grew  into  a  strong,  healthy 
child,  developing  fresh  lung-power  every  day,  though  not  as 
yet  with  tonal  results  indicative  of  the  voice  that  was  soon 
to  delight  the  world.  ^  It  was,  however,  the  New  World,  not 
the  old  land  of  song,  that  was  to  have  the  privilege  of  furnish- 
ing the  cradle  and  home  for  the  rearing  of  the  new  prodigy. 
How  this  came  about  must  now  be  told. 

In  the  early  forties  New  York  was  fond  of  flirting  with 
opera.  Its  citizens  still  preserved  the  taste  for  it  that  the 
incomparable  Garcias  had  some  twenty  years  before  inoculated 
them  withal.  But  their  support  was  rather  capricious,  and 
when,  in  the  winter  of  1843-4,  a  ci-devant  restaurant-keeper 
named  Palmo,  built  a  small  opera  house  in  Chambers  Street, 
in  which  to  give  Italian  opera  on  a  modern  scale  (it  only  held 
eight  hundred  persons),  he  found  it  more  than  he  could  do  to 
make  it  pay.  The  first  season  saw  him  a  heavy  loser ;  the  sec- 
ond was  disastrous.  In  January,  1845,  the  theatre  closed  and 
was  taken  over  by  one  Sanquirico,  a  buffo  singer — but  not 
alone.  It  occurred  to  this  enterprising  artist  to  ask  his  old 
friend  Salvatore  Patti  to  come  over  to  New  York  and  join  him- 
self and  another  Italian  named  Pogliagno  in  the  exploitation 
of  Palmo 's  opera  house. 

The  Pattis  do  not  appear  to  have  hesitated.  Sanquirico 
used  powerful  arguments,  and  the  economy  of  the  arrange- 
ment was  a  recommendation  in  itself.  The  husband  a  tenor; 
the  wife  a  prima  donna ;  two  of  the  Barili  children  already  old 
enough  to  be  in  the  company — it  was  like  securing  the  best 
part  of  a  troupe,  to  begin  with.  The  important  step  was 
quickly  taken,   and,   almost  before  they  knew  it,   Salvatore 


10  THE  RE10X  OF  PATH 

Patti  and  his  family  were  landing  on  the  dock  at  New  York, 
ready  to  start  their  new  lives  in  a  new  country.1 

The  exact  date  of  this  emigration  to  America  is  not  on  rec- 
ord. According  to  Mr.  H.  E.  Krehbiel,2  the  Sanquirico-Patti 
season  at  Palmo's  came  subsequently  to  the  closing  of  the 
house  in  January,  1845.  On  the  other  hand,  an  article  printed 
in  Harper's  Weekly  Journal  of  Civilization  in  1860  asserts 
that  Adelina  Patti 's  parents  brought  her  to  America  in  1844; 
and  there  are  reasons  for  concluding  that  this  was  the  actual 
year.  It  is  more  than  likely  that  Sanquirico  was  able  to  fore- 
see and  inform  his  friend  in  good  time  how  things  were  going 
to  end  at  Palmo's. 

The  idea  of  living  in  the  United  States  was  exceedingly 
attractive  to  the  Sicilian  tenor;  still  more  so  was  the  anticipa- 
tion that  when  his  voice  gave  out  he  could  make  a  good  living 
as  an  impresario.  It  seems  practically  certain,  therefore, 
that  by  the  time  the  crisis  came  at  the  little  opera  house  in 
Chambers  Street,  Salvatore  Patti  and  his  family  were  already 
permanently  installed  in  their  new  dwelling,  not  far  from 
that  spot. 

But  neither  there  nor  elsewhere  was  his  venture  into  the 
domain  of  operatic  management  destined  to  be  crowned  with 
good  fortune.  The  season  at  Palmo's  was  a  failure.  Nothing 
daunted.  Messrs.  Sanquirico  and  Patti  undertook,  in  1847,  the 
direction  of  the  newly  erected  Astor  Place  Opera  House,  which 
seated  eighteen  hundred  people  and  was  intended  to  accom- 
modate the  aristocracy  of  New  York.  For  a  time  all  went 
well,  and  the  operas  mounted  during  the  season  included 
Verdi's  "Ernani"  and  "Xabucco,"  Mercadante's  "II  Giura- 
mento, "  Bellini's  "Beatrice  di  Tenda, "  and  Donizetti's 
"Lucrezia  Borgia." 

i  According  to  one  account,  Amalia  and  Carlotta  Patti  were  left  be- 
hind and  placed  in  a  boardinp-school  at  Milan. 
a  "Chapters  of  Opera."-  by  II.  E.  Krehbiel,  1909. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  11 

Before  the  end,  however,  troubles  arose  (of  the  usual  pecu- 
niary description),  for  which  the  easy-going  Salvatore  was 
in  no  way  responsible ;  and  eventually  the  new  managers  gave 
way  to  a  Mr.  Edward  Fry  (brother  of  the  then  critic  of  the 
Tribune),  who  directed  the  Astor  Place  opera  season  in  1848, 
and  afterwards  in  turn  retired  in  favor  of  his  conductor,  Mr. 
Max  Maretzek.  The  advent  of  this  gentleman  was  of  interest 
for  reasons  that  will  become  apparent  later  on.  He  was  to 
devote  himself  to  the  cause  of  Italian  opera  in  New  York  for 
the  next  five-and-twenty  years,  and  with  more  satisfactory  re- 
sults than  had  attended  the  efforts  of  his  predecessors. 

Thus  terminated  the  vocation  of  Salvatore  Patti  as  an  oper- 
atic manager.  Who  knows  but  that  it  was  for  the  best  ?  Had 
fortune  smiled  upon  him,  the  whole  history  of  his  remarkable 
family  would  probably  have  been  different.  His  daughters 
might  never  have  become  professional  singers,  and  the  won- 
drous Adelina  might  have  blossomed  into — a  brilliant  amateur. 

As  it  was,  the  performances  during  that  season  of  1847  at 
the  Astor  Place  Opera  House  were  to  shed  a  strange  and  last- 
ing influence  upon  the  mind  and  disposition  of  the  future  diva. 
She  was  then  only  four  years  old,  but,  as  she  herself  will  tell 
us,  she  was  taken  to  the  opera  every  night  her  mother  sang. 
Can  we  not  picture  her,  a  raven-haired  child,  gazing  at  the 
stage  with  her  sparkling  black  eyes,  taking  in  every  feature 
of  the  scene,  listening  with  wide-open  ears  to  the  singers,  and 
drinking  in,  for  the  first  time,  the  Italian  melodies  that  were 
to  come  to  her  as  naturally  as  speech?  What  an  education 
for  a  baby !  How  little  did  the  father  and  mother  dream  what 
they  were  doing — what  germs  of  precious  talent  and  vocal 
genius  they  were  nurturing — when  they  took  that  little  girl  to 
the  theatre,  instead  of  leaving  her  at  home  in  bed! 

But  the  story  of  Adelina  Patti 's  childhood  is  an  extraordi- 
nary one,  and  far  too  important  to  be  started  at  the  end  of  a 
chapter. 


CHAPTER  II 

Childhood  in  New  York  (1847-50) — Home  Life  and  Influences — The 
Patti  Sisters  Amalia  and  Carlotta — A  Vocal  Nest — Little  Adelina'a 
Voice — Discovery  of  the  Prodigy — An  Autobiographical  Fragment — 
Her  Musical  Ear  and  Imitative  Faculty — Arditi's  Visit  with  Bot- 
tesini — Tears  of  Emotion 

AMONG  the  influences  that  go  to  the  forming  of  character 
and  the  development  of  artistic  tendencies,  none  are 
stronger  than  those  derived  from  home  surroundings.  In  the 
case  of  Adelina  Patti  it  would  be  difficult  to  overestimate  their 
potency.  From  the  time  she  was  old  enough  to  "take  notice," 
musie  was  the  all-pervading  atmosphere  of  her  daily  existence. 
Almost  as  soon  as  she  could  babble  words  she  could  warble 
tunes. 

Never  before,  surely,  was  there  such  a  musical,  or  rather 
such  a  vocal  menage.  From  morn  till  night  this  Patti  dwell- 
ing resounded  with  the  echoes  of  operatic  study,  with  the  prac- 
tice of  scales,  trills,  and  cadenzas.  To  the  ears  of  the  young- 
est member  of  the  family  there  must  have  come  a  continuous 
outpouring  of  Italian  cantilena  from  the  throats  of  father 
and  mother,  brothers  and  sisters.  Like  the  Joey  Ladle  of 
Dickens,  she  must  have  literally  "taken  it  in  at  the  pores." 
Dolls  and  singing  were  her  chief  delights. 

Let  us  glance  briefly  at  the  individual  members  of  the  house- 
hold. The  parents  we  already  know.  By  the  year  1849  their 
singing  days  were  nearly  over;  they  were  beginning  to  look  to 
the  elder  sons  and  daughters  for  help  to  meet  the  growing 
family  expenses.  Ettore,  the  eldest  of  the  Barili  boys,  had 
begun  his  vocal  training  before  they  left  Italy.  He  was  now 
a  highly  promising  baritone,  capable  of  earning  something  on 


12 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  13 

his  own  account.  Both  of  the  younger  brothers  also  had  good 
voices — Antonio  a  deep  bass,  Nicolo  a  basso  cantante. 

Their  sister,  Clotilda  Barili,  had  been  for  some  time  on  the 
concert  platform,  having  sung  in  public  before  the  family  emi- 
grated. She  appeared  once  at  Vicenza  in  the  very  year  Ade- 
lina  was  bom ;  and  the  occasion  is  noteworthy  because  it  was 
at  a  concert  given  by  a  young  pianist  named  Maurice  Strakosch 
— the  man  who  was  destined  to  become  the  brother-in-law  and 
impresario  (or,  as  we  should  now  say,  manager)  of  the  illus- 
trious singer.  It  was  at  this  same  concert,  moreover,  that 
Strakosch  and  Salvatore  Patti  first  become  acquainted.1 

Amalia,  the  eldest  of  the  three  Patti  girls,  also  sang  in  pub- 
lic at  an  early  age.  She  is  said  to  have  had  a  fine  organ,  but, 
unlike  her  sisters,  had  to  work  hard  to  attain  whatever  facility 
she  possessed.  The  shake  gave  her  no  end  of  trouble.  She 
devoted  so  much  time  to  it,  practising  two  notes  slowly  up  and 
down,  in  order  to  get  them  perfectly  even,  that  at  last  her 
prolonged  study  of  this  one  thing  attracted  the  attention  of 
the  observant  Adelina,  now  some  five  or  six  years  old.  "Why 
do  you  do  it  like  that?"  she  demanded  of  Amalia,  at  the  same 
time  imitating  her  laborious  effort.  "Why  don't  you  trill 
this  way?"  Whereupon  the  tiny  maid  executed  without  diffi- 
culty a  faultless  natural  shake.  Unstudied  and  unprepared, 
it  came  to  her,  she  said,  as  "  a  gift  from  heaven. ' '  2 

According  to  Maurice  Strakosch,  Amalia  was  already  a 
favorite  with  American  audiences  in  1848,  when,  escaping  the 
revolutionary  troubles  in  Paris,  he  crossed  the  Atlantic  and 
gave  a  "festival,"  as  he  termed  it,  in  New  York  in  October  of 
that  year,  for  which  the  Patti  opera  troupe  was  engaged.  But 
Amalia  was  then  only  about  twelve  and  without  reputation  as  a 

i  "Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  Maurice  Strakosch,  Paris,  1887. 

2  I  heard  Mme.  Patti  tell  this  story  herself  more  than  once  at  Craig- 
y-Nos  Castle,  and  have  related  it  in  my  "Thirty  Years  of  Musical  Life 
in  London"  (New  York:  The  Century  Co.;  and  London:  W.  Heine- 
mann,  1903). 


H  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

prodigy;  and,  as  the  new-comer  was  immediately  smitten  with 
her  charms  (so  much  so  that  he  married  her  two  years  later), 
his  evidence  regarding  the  young  lady's  popularity  must  be 
received,  like  many  other  of  his  "Souvenirs" — above  all  when 
dates  are  concerned — with  the  greatest  caution. 

The  matter  of  Amalia's  public  career  is,  however,  of  no  par- 
ticular moment.  It  lasted  a  comparatively  brief  space.  Soon 
after  her  marriage  her  voice  began  to  lose  its  power,  and  in 
a  few  years  it  had  gone  almost  entirely. 

With  Carlotta  Patti,  the  second  daughter,  it  was  exactly 
the  reverse.  Her  fine  high  soprano  voice  did  not  develop  un- 
til she  reached  womanhood,  and  she  remained  a  famous  eon- 
cert  singer  for  more  than  twenty  years.  But  of  her  more 
anon.  At  the  period  now  referred  to  Carlotta  was  a  girl  of 
eight,  learning  to  play  the  piano  and  working  hard  at  her 
Clementi  and  Czerny.  Later  she  was  to  study  to  be  a  pro- 
fessional pianist,  with  the  well-known  virtuoso,  Henri  Herz, 
for  her  master.  Thus  her  unfortunate  lameness  did  not  pre- 
vent her  from  adding  appreciably  to  the  aggregate  of  sweet 
sounds  produced  by  this  extraordinary  family. 

Lastly,  there  was  the  merry,  raven-haired,  pert  little  enfant 
gatee  herself,  divided  between  her  passion  for  dolls  and  her 
love  of  music,  imitating  every  singer  and  repeating  every  note 
she  heard,  from  an  Italian  aria  to  a  Southern  plantation  ditty, 
taking  it  all  in  and  giving  it  all  out  again  in  that  sweet  child 
soprano  which,  it  is  said,  her  mother  took  an  especial  delight 
in  encouraging. 

But  the  "entire  Stimmung  of  the  Patti  household,"  to 
quote  Hanslick  again,  was  singularly  calculated  to  foster  the 
growth  of  an  incipient  vocal  genius.  What  a  nest  wherein  to 
rear  the  infant  nightingale  who  was  to  be  the  greatest  song- 
stress of  them  all !  It  was  when  she  was  nearly  six  years  old 
that  they  first  began  to  notice  the  exquisite  timbre  of  Adelina's 
voice,  its  bright,  clear  tone,  the  unusual  accuracy  of  her  ear, 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  15 

the  sureness  and  ease  with  which  she  would  phrase  a  melody. 

A  graceful  and  vivacious  child  she  was  at  this  time.  Her 
pretty  face,  when  in  repose,  had  in  it  a  strangely  mature,  often 
thoughtful  look.  Its  contour  was  almost  that  of  a  woman's; 
its  expression,  when  it  lighted  up,  full  of  character  and  energy. 
The  dark  eyes  could  sparkle  with  mischief  or  quickly  blaze 
with  the  fire  of  momentary  anger.  But  then,  she  was  the 
baby ;  her  ways  were  very  winning ;  she  was  so  unlike  ordinary 
little  girls,  save  in  her  aforesaid  devotion  to  her  dolls,  and, 
perhaps,  a  penchant  for  pretty  frocks. 

A  simple  tune  or  a  broad  strain  of  melody,  given  out  by 
the  human  voice,  would  instantly  rivet  her  attention.  For 
instrumental  music  she  did  not  then  betray  much  liking, 
though  the  fact  that  it  was  music  at  all  sufficed  to  make  it  at- 
tractive to  her.  But  her  chief  joy  lay  in  opera  and  everything 
connected  with  it — the  singing,  the  acting,  the  dresses,  the 
make-up,  the  scenic  effects,  the  chorus  and  orchestra — includ- 
ing the  whole  personnel,  from  the  conductor  to  the  call-boy. 
Nor  was  there  a  single  thing  done  upon  the  stage  that  she 
would  not  or  could  not  mimic. 

Another  year  slipped  by — a  year  of  diminishing  prosperity, 
of  growing  care  and  worry  for  Adelina's  father.  Then,  in 
what  was  perchance  their  darkest  hour,  came  the  incident 
that  was  to  reveal  the  means  for  present  relief,  and  with  it, 
incidentally,  the  unfolding  of  a  talent  that  was  to  astonish 
the  world.  I  give  the  story  as  it  was  told  me  more  than  forty 
years  afterward  by  the  heroine  herself. 

She  was  barely  seven.  Every  member  of  the  family  and 
not  a  few  of  their  friends  knew  that  Adelina  could  sing;  but 
what  they  did  not  know  was  that  she  could  already,  without 
having  had  a  lesson  in  her  life,  sing  like  an  artist. 

One  day  they  thought  they  would  make  her  go  through  a 
whole  piece,  dnd,  in  order  to  see  her  the  better,  they  made  her 


16  THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI 

stand  upon  a  table.  She  began  without  hesitation,  not  know- 
ing the  meaning  of  the  word  nervousness.  They  had  no  idea 
what  she  was  going  to  sing.  Imagine  their  wonder,  not  un- 
mingled  with  amusement,  when  she  started  the  long  sustained 
note  and  "turn"  that  form  the  initial  phrase  of  "Casta 
diva"!  It  was  to  be  nothing  less,  if  you  please,  than  that 
most  exacting  of  arias — the  noblest  of  Bellini's  inspired  melo- 
dies— the  sublime  prayer  uttered  by  Norma  just  before  she 
severs  the  sacred  mistletoe  from  an  oak  with  her  golden  sickle. 

Amusement  at  the  little  singer's  daring  quickly  disappeared 
and  left  a  feeling  of  amazement.  For  even  to  those  of  her 
flesh  and  blood  who  listened  there  was  something  strange,  ex- 
citing, uncanny,  in  the  marvellous  intuition  that  enabled  her 
to  go  through  both  verses  of  "Casta  diva"  wholly  by  ear  and 
without  a  mistake.  Is  it  surprising  that  the  good  Salvatore 
and  his  wife  should  have  wept  tears  of  joy  over  their  darling 
bambino?  If  the  father's  eyes  had  not  been  opened  before, 
they  were  now.  Adelina  was  a  real  prodigy,  and  one  that 
might  help  them  out  of  all  their  troubles. 

That  she  should  know  the  air  was  not  astonishing.  Norma, 
as  we  have  reason  to  remember,  was  one  of  her  mother's  favor- 
ite parts,  and  the  child  had  often  heard  her  sing  it  at  the 
Astor  Place  Opera  House.  Besides,  Clotilda  Barili  and 
Amalia  were  constantly  practising  it.  No ;  the  marvel  lay  in 
two  things:  the  singularly  mature  and  beautiful  quality  of  the 
voice;  and  the  no  less  surprising  grace,  accuracy,  and  charm 
of  the  rendering.  Her  abnormal  imitative  gift  enabled  her 
not  only  to  learn  every  bar,  every  fioritura,  every  note  and 
syllable  of  the  Italian  music  and  text  by  heart,  but  to  control 
her  tone,  to  sustain  it  without  effort  through  the  long  canti- 
lena, and  to  deliver  the  phrases  just  as  she  had  heard  them 
sung,  wdth  natural  expression  and  balanced  suavity  of  style. 

Herein  was  something  that  the  father  knew  to  be  more  than 
an  ordinary  child's  performance.     It  was  the  revelation  of  the 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  17 

born  singer.  It  was  the  bringing  to  light  of  the  true  vocal 
genius — a  kind  of  super-woman  of  the  singing  universe — in 
whom  the  lives,  habits,  and  dispositions  of  this  family  had 
(for  two  generations  at  least)  been  preparing  and  building 
up  a  wonderful  manifestation.  Happily  for  every  one,  the 
"discovery"  was  not  to  lead  to  an  overworking  of  the  gold 
mine.  The  resources  of  the  juvenile  artist  were  not  to  be 
abused,  but,  on  the  contrary,  carefully  guarded  and  pre- 
served from  now  onward.  They  were  to  develop  with  the 
normal  growth  of  the  girl  and  the  woman,  and  to  serve 
her  in  good  stead  throughout  a  career  that  was  as  unex- 
ampled for  its  duration  as  for  its  distinction. 

The  events  leading  to  this  "discovery"  were  also  related1 
by  the  great  artist  to  her  Viennese  critic  and  friend  (in 
May,  1877)  in  course  of  the  following  interesting  descrip- 
tion of  her  childhood  in  America: 

"A  musical  ear,  as  well  as  an  aptitude  for  and  great 
love  of  singing,  was  developed  in  me  at  an  extremely  early 
age.  Even  as  a  little  child,  I  was  madly  fond  of  music 
and  the  stage.  I  went  to  the  opera  every  evening  my 
.mother  appeared;  every  melody,  every  action,  was  impressed 
indelibly  on  my  mind.  When,  after  being  brought  home, 
I  had  been  put  to  bed,  I  used  to  quietly  get  up  again, 
and,  by  the  light  of  the  night-lamp,  play  over  all  the  scenes 
I  had  witnessed  in  the  theatre.  A  cloak  of  my  father's, 
with  a  red  lining,  and  an  old  hat  and  feathers  belonging 
to  my  mother,  did  duty  as  an  extensive  wardrobe,  and  so 
I  acted,  danced,  and  twittered — barefooted  but  romantically 
draped — all  the  operas.  No,  not  even  the  applause  and 
the  wreaths  were  wanting;  I  used  to  play  audience  as  well, 
applauding  and  flinging  myself  nosegays,  which  I  manufac- 
tured by  no  means  clumsily  out  of  large  newspapers  crumpled 
up  together. 

i  "Musikalische  >Stationen." 


IS  THE  REIGN  OF   I 'ATT  I 

"A  heavy  blow  now  overtook  us.  The  manager  became 
a  bankrupt,  and  disappeared  without  paying  the  arrears 
of  salary.  The  company  dispersed,  and  there  was  an  end 
to  Italian  opera.  My  parents  found  themselves  without 
the  means  of  livelihood.  We  were  a  numerous  family,  and 
so  want  and  anxiety  quickly  made  their  appearance.  My 
father  took  one  thing  after  another  to  the  pawnbrokers, 
and  frequently  did  not  know  one  day  how  we  were  to  live 
the  next.  I,  however,  understood  but  little  of  this,  and 
sang  away  merrily  early  and  late. 

"My  father  now  began  to  observe  me,  and  conceived  the 
notion  that  with  my  childish  voice  I  might  extricate  the 
family  from  their  distress.  Thank  heaven,  I  did.  When 
I  was  seven  years  old  I  had  to  appear  as  a  concert  singer, 
and  I  did  so  with  all  the  delight  and  simplicity  of  a  child. 
In  the  concert-room  I  was  placed  on  a  table  near  the 
piano,  so  that  the  audience  might  see  as  well  as  hear  the 
little  bit  of  a  doll.  People  flocked  in,  and  there  was  plenty 
of  applause.  And  do  you  know  what  I  sang?  That  is 
the  most  remarkable  part  of  the  business;  nothing  but 
bravura  airs,  such  as  'Una  voce  poco  fa,'  from  the  'Barbiere,' 
with  precisely  the  same  embellishments  which  I  sing  at  present, 
and  similar  florid  compositions.  I  had  the  joy  of  seeing  the 
articles  of  clothing  and  the  valuables  which  had  been  pledged 
find  their  way  back,  one  by  one,  and  quiet  and  comfort  once 
more  reign  in  our  house." 

This  interesting  bit  of  autobiography  takes  us  somewhat  in 
advance  of  our  story.  It  is  impossible  to  assign  an  exact 
date  to  the  "discovery,"  but  there  can  be  little  doubt  that 
it  occurred  during  the  winter  of  1849-50.  Some  time  then 
elapsed  before  Salvatore  Patti  was  in  a  position  to  carry  out 
his  idea  of  bringing  out  his  youngest  daughter  as  a  vocal 
prodigy.     In  the  meantime,  however,  she  was  encouraged  as 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  19 

much  as  possible  in  the  family  circle.  They  constantly  put 
her  on  the  table  and  made  her  try  over  everything  she  knew,1 
"showing  off"  her  marvellous  talent  before  friends  until  very 
soon  it  became  second  nature  to  her  to  sing  before  an  audience. 

Among  these  friends  was  one  who  was  to  know  her  inti- 
mately in  after  years.  This  was  the  celebrated  operatic 
conductor,  Luigi  Arditi,  who  in  1845-50  was  touring  in  the 
United  States  with  the  no  less  renowned  double-bass  player 
and  composer,  Bottesini.  They  visited  the  Patti  home  in  New 
York,  and  there,  for  the  first  time,  saw  and  heard  the 
enchanting  little  Adelina.  The  episode  made  its  mark  upon 
both  musicians,  and  the  pen-picture  in  which  it  was  described 
by  Signor  Arditi 2  throws  a  valuable  light  upon  the  personal- 
ity of  the  little  singer  at  this  momentous  period : 

"The  first  time  I  ever  set  eyes  on  Adelina  was  in  New  York, 
when  she  and  her  mother  visited  the  hotel  at  which  I  lived, 
in  order  to  eat  the  macaroni  which  was  always  excellently 
prepared  by  an  Italian  chef  of  renown,  and  her  determined 
little  airs  and  manners  then  already  showed  plainly  that  she 
was  destined  to  become  a  ruler  of  men.  .  .  .  Adelina 's  mother 
was  anxious  that  I  should  hear  the  child  sing,  and  so  she 
brought  her  little  daughter  to  my  rooms  one  day. 

"Bottesini  and  I  were  highly  amused  to  see  the  air  of 
importance  with  which  the  tiny  songstress  first  selected  a 
comfortable  seat  for  her  doll  in  such  proximity  that  she  was 
able  to  see  her  while  singing,  and  then,  having  said:  'La, 
ma  bonne  petite,  attends  que  ta  maman  te  chante  quelque 
chose  de  jolie,'  she  demurely  placed  her  music  on  the  piano, 
and  asked  me  to  accompany  her  in  the  rondo  of  '  Sonnambula. ' 

i  Including  several  of  the  popular  old  ballads  which  it  was  such  a 
delight  to  hear  her  sing.  Now  was  probably  the  time  when  she  first 
began  to  learn  "Home,  sweet  home,"  "The  last  rose  of  summer,"  "Comin' 
thro'  the  rye,"  and  "Within  a  mile  o'  Edinboro'  Town."  Anyhow,  she 
sang  them  all  as  a  child. 

2  "My  Reminiscences,"  by  Luigi  Arditi.     London,  1896. 


20  TIIP]  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

"How  am  I  to  give  an  adequate  description  of  the  effect 
which  that  child's  miraculous  notes  produced  upon  our  en- 
chanted senses?  Perhaps  if  I  say  that  both  Bottesini  and 
I  wept  genuine  tears  of  emotion,  tears  which  were  the  out- 
come of  the  original  and  never-to-be-forgotten  impression 
her  voice  made  when  it  first  stirred  our  innermost  feelings, 
that  may,  in  some  slight  measure,  convince  my  readers  of 
the  extraordinary  vocal  power  and  beauty  of  which  little 
Adelina  was,  at  that  tender  age,  possessed.  We  were  simply 
amazed,  nay,  electrified,  at  the  well-nigh  perfect  manner  in 
which  she  delivered  some  of  the  most  difficult  and  varied  arias 
without  the  slightest  effort  or  self-consciousness." 

Such  was  the  adorable  little  creature  whom  Arditi  and 
Bottesini  became  acquainted  with  on  the  eve,  so  to  speak, 
of  her  extraordinary  career.  Little  did  they  dream  then  what 
a  privilege  was  theirs.  Still,  they  wept ;  and  more  than  that 
they  could  not  well  do  to  manifest  the  sensations  that  the 
child's  singing  aroused  in  them.  Nor  can  we  doubt  that 
those  kindly  tears  did  more  even  than  words  to  strengthen 
the  father's  resolution  in  the  plan  of  action  which  he  had 
determined  to  pursue. 


CHAPTER  III 

Adelina's  First  Teachers — Ettore  Barili  and  Signora  Paravelli — What 
They  Taught  Her — Li  Hi  Lehmann's  Tribute — Debut  as  a  Wonder-Child 
— Advent  of  Maurice  Strakosch — First  Concert  Tour — Ole  Bull — 
Early  Vocal  Training — Her  Own  Evidence — The  Barili  and  Strakosch 
Claims  Compared — A  Discussion  in  the  Times — An  Episode  of  Patti's 
Childhood. 

EXACTLY  how  old — or  rather  how  young — Adelina  Patti 
was  when  she  began  to  take  lessons  can  only  be  surmised. 
Her  own  records  of  the  matter  mention  no  date.1  She  simply 
says:  "While  still  a  little  child  I  had  lessons  in  singing  from 
my  step-brother,  and  pianoforte  lessons  from  my  sister 
Carlotta."  It  is  more  than  probable  that  these  lessons  were 
started  immediately  after  the  "discovery"  chronicled  in  the 
preceding  chapter. 

Anyhow,  it  is  absolutely  certain  that  Ettore  Barili,  "an 
excellent  singer,"  was  her  first  teacher.  "He  gave  me  my 
first  lessons  in  singing,  doing  so  quite  systematically,  and  not 
as  a  mere  amusement  or  by  fits  and  starts. ' ' 

' '  It  was  my  half-brother,  Mr.  Ettore  Barili, ' '  she  once  told 
an  American  writer,  ' '  who  laid  the  foundation  of  my  singing. 
My  brother-in-law,  Mr.  Strakosch,  taught  me  certain  embel- 
lishments and  cadenzas,  but  it  was  to  Ettore  Barili  that  I 
owed  the  foundation  as  well  as  the  finish  of  my  vocal  equip- 
ment. With  him  I  studied  solfeggi,  trills,  scales;  the  chro- 
matic scales  came  naturally.  I  think  I  was  trilling  when  I 
came  into  the  world. ' ' 2 

i  "Musikalische  Stationen,"  Eduard  Hanslick. 

2  From  an  article  by  William  Armstrong,  quoted  later  at  length, 
which  appeared  in  the  Saturday  Evening  Post  (Philadelphia),  August 
8,  1903,  under  the  heading  "Madame  Patti's  Advice  to  Singers,"  and 
now  reprinted  by  permission. 

21 


22  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

She  also  received  vocal  instruction  in  those  early  days 
from  an  Ilalian  opera  singer  named  Paravelli^  who  visited 
regularly  at  the  house  and  was  an  intimate  friend  of  the 
family.  This  lady  was  desirous  of  taking  in  hand  Adelinu  \s 
general  education,  and  her  offer  was  accepted. 

Signora  Paravelli  seems  to  have  been  an  efficient  accompan- 
ist as  well  as  a  capable  singer.  Consequently,  under  her 
guidance  the  child  was  able  to  make  rapid  progress.  She 
added  a  number  of  operatic  arias  and  show  pieces  to  her 
own  little  stock,  her  memory  being  as  phenomenal  as  was  her 
faculty  for  imitation.  At  the  same  time  she  gained  notably 
in  poise  and  aplomb.  No  matter  who  was  listening,  she  never 
betrayed  a  scintilla  of  self-consciousness,  but  sang  as  a  bird 
would — with  the  keenest  sense  of  enjoyment  and  freedom  in 
the  act  of  using  her  voice  and  warbling  her  melodies. 

Did  she  go  through  a  regular  course  of  technical  training  in 
the  art  of  voice-production?  This  question  has  been  asked 
a  thousand  times,  and  the  answer  she  herself  always  emphat- 
ically gave  was,  "No!"  Nature  had  taught  her  nearly  every- 
thing that  the  average  student  has  to  strive  laboriously  to 
acquire.  To  put  it  still  more  precisely,  she  went  through  no 
regular,  course,  but  was  carefully  trained  to  do  everything 
well. 

Both  Ettore  Barili  and  Signora  Paravelli  seem  to  have 
acted  in  this  matter  with  the  utmost  common  sense.  They 
merely  filled  in  the  gaps  that  nature  had  left.  They  taught 
her  how  to  breathe,  how  to  sustain  tone  with  what  Italians 
call  the  messa  di  voce  (swelling  and  diminishing  on  single 
notes),  how  to  execute  scales  and  runs — in  fact,  all  the  exer- 
cises for  agility,  the  ornaments  and  embellishments,  that  form 
the  foundation  of  the  old  Italian  school. 

Happily,  too,  they  "let  well  alone."  (And  would  that  all 
who  teach  this  art  would  do  the  same!)  They  made  no  at- 
tempt to  interfere  with  her  manner  or  method  of  emitting  her 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  23 

voice.  Its  delicious  purity  and  extraordinary  volume  fur- 
nished a  sufficient  warning  against  any  attempt  to  improve 
upon  what  they  must  have  recognized  as  nature's  perfect 
model.  They  doubtless  realized  that  she  was  a  genius — one  of 
those  "  fortunately  gifted  geniuses  in  whom  are  united  all  the 
qualities  needed  to  attain  greatness  and  perfection,  and  whose 
circumstances  in  life  are  equally  fortunate ;  who  can  reach  the 
goal  earlier,  without  devoting  their  whole  lives  to  it."1 

The  accomplished  artist  who  wrote  the  words  just  quoted 
understood  the  nature  of  this  phenomenon.  Referring  to  it 
again,  Mme.  Lilli  Lehmann  says:  "She  possessed,  uncon- 
sciously, as  a  gift  of  nature,  a  union  of  all  those  qualities  that 
all  other  singers  must  attain  and  possess  consciously.  Her 
vocal  organs  stood  in  the  most  favorable  relation  to  each 
other.  Her  talent,  and  her  remarkably  trained  ear,  main- 
tained control  over  the  beauty  of  her  singing  and  of  her 
voice.  The  fortunate  circumstances  of  her  life  preserved 
her  from  all  injury.  The  purity  and  ^lawlessness  of  her 
tone,  the  beautiful  equalization  of  her  whole  voice,  constituted 
the  magic  by  which  she  held  her  listeners  entranced," 

Once  more,  then,  all  praise  to  Ettore  Barili  for  his  masterly 
policy  of  non-interference !  Taking  his  little  step-sister  in 
hand  at  the  tender  age  when  a  fundamental  mistake  or  a 
suspicion  of  undue  "forcing"  might  have  ruined  her  organ, 
he  trained  her  with  the  utmost  gentleness  and  discrimination. 
The  more  she  sang,  the  better  she  sang.  She  never  complained 
of  the  slightest  fatigue.  If  she  left  off  singing  it  was' because 
they  stopped  her,  or  because  she  wanted  to  get  back  to  her 
dolls. 

Such  was  the  wonder-child  of  seven  whom  Salvatore  Patti 
desired  to  bring  to  the  world's  notice  in  the  early  spring  of 
1850.     His  mind  made  up,  he  knew  quite  well  to  whom  to 

i  "How  to  Sing,"  by  Lilli  Lehmann.     London,  1903. 


24  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

apply  to  cooperate  with  him  in  the  execution  of  his  plan. 
No  one  wjas  likely  to  do  better  than  Max  Maretzek,  his  old 
conductor  at  the  Astor  Place  Opera  House  in  1847,  and  subse- 
quently the  manager  of  that  establishment.  So  in  due  course 
he  went  to  Maretzek  and  asked  him  to  hear  his  little  girl 
sing.     Of  course  Max  did  so. 

To  the  last  day  he  lived,  the  New  York  impresario  was  never 
so  proud  of  anything  as  of  his  share  in  that  transaction. 
Delighted  beyond  measure  with  Adelina's  precious  gifts,  he 
promised  that  she  should  appear  at  a  concert  that  was  about 
to  be  given  under  his  direction  for  a  charily.  It  was  an 
excellent  opportunity,  and  arrangements  for  the  debut  were 
forthwith  concluded.  Of  the  actual  date  on  which  it  occurred 
no  reliable  record  is  to  be  found.  The  affair  had  no  import- 
ance at  the  time,  and  it  is  doubtful  whether  it  was  noticed  in 
the  press  beyond  the  extent  of  a  paragraph. 

Nevertheless,  certain  details  survive.  For  instance,  that 
the  concert  took  place  in  a  small  New  York  building  known 
as  Tripler's  Hall;  and  that  "little  Miss  Patti"  sang  on  this 
memorable  occasion  two  pieces,  namely  the  final  rondo,  "Ah! 
non  giunge,"  from  "La  Sonnambula,"  and  the  "Echo  Song" 
by  Eckert,  which  was  then  one  of  the  chevaux  de  bataille 
of  Jenny  Lind.  Her  rendering  of  these  selections — standing 
upon  a  table,  that  the  audience  might  be  able  to  see  her  well — 
created  a  most  extraordinary  sensation. 

Regarding  this  impression  I  have  listened  to  the  evidence 
of  an  eye-witness.  In  1902,  not  long  after  the  beginning  of 
my  seven  years'  sojourn  in  New  York,  I  presented  a  letter 
of  introduction  (it  was  from  Mme.  Patti  herself)  to  a  lady 
who  told  me  she  had  been  among  the  audience  at  the  Tripler's 
Hall  concert. 

"Never  shall  I  forget,"  she  said,  "the  perfect  coolness  and 
equanimity  with  which  that  child  stood  before  a  staring  crowd, 
for  the  first  time  in  her  life,  and  sang  with  astounding  ease 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  25 

and  grace  the  different  pieces  that  they  had  put  her  down 
for!  The  beauty  of  the  fresh  young  voice  was  thrilling 
enough,  but  the  brilliancy  of  her  execution  was  something 
the  like  of  which  people  had  never  heard  from  the  lips  of 
a  girl  before;  and  the  combination  simply  took  their  breath 
away.  I  certainly  thought  they  would  never  leave  off  ap- 
plauding. We  left  the  hall  with  the  feeling  that  Mr.  Maretzek, 
[a  relative  of  the  speaker] ,  had  discovered  the  greatest  vocal 
prodigy  of  the  age." 

And  so  he  had;  but  at  the  moment  he  seems  not  to  have 
realized  the  fact.  Anyhow,  Max  Maretzek  was  not  destined 
to  be  the  man  who  should  profit  by  it.  The  gains  to  be 
harvested  through  the  golden  throat  of  Adelina  were  to  be 
shared  by  Salvatore  Patti  for  many  a  day  in  association  with 
his  lucky  son-in-law,  Maurice  Strakosch. 

Concerning  this  clever  and  wide-awake  young  musician, 
who  had  not  been  long  married  to  Amalia,  the  eldest  of  the 
Patti  girls,  it  will  now  be  necessary  to  give  a  few  particulars. 
His  age  in  1850  was  twenty-five.  Born  in  a  small  town  in 
Moravia,1  he  was  brought  up  as  a  pianist,  made  his  debut 
when  eleven  years  old,  and  won  considerable  fame  in  Austria 
and  Germany.  He  aspired,  however,  to  be  an  operatic  tenor, 
and  sang  for  a  year  at  Agram  for  thirty  francs  a  month! 
After  that  he  was  fortunate  enough  to  secure  a  chance  of 
studying  for  a  while  under  the  great  Mme.  Pasta,  who  had 
retired  from  the  stage  and  was  then  living  on  the  Lake  of 
Como. 

Strakosch  says  he  studied  with  Pasta  three  years,  but  this 
has  been  contradicted  on  good  authority.  Whether  he  did 
or  did  not  matters  little,  except  as  a  test  of  his  veracity.  The 
point  is  that  his  "Souvenirs"  teem  with  doubtful  statements 

i  In  his  book  he  mentions  neither  the  year  nor  the  name  of  the  town. 
But  the  latter  was  not  Lemberg,  as  has  been  stated. 


26  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

and  leave  a  series  of  lac  u  ml  which,  had  they  been  truthfully 
filled  in,  would  have  furnished  material  of  the  utmost  value 
and  interest.  The  accuracy  of  the  assertion  that  he  was  three 
years  with  Pasta  is  at  once  impugned  by  his  boast,  in  the 
same  sentence,  that  he  was  "learning  that  science  which 
enabled  him  in  turn  to  form  a  pupil  like  Mine.  Adelina  Patti." 
How  much  he  had  to  do  with  "forming"  of  the  famous 
singer  will  be  shown  in  due  time. 

In  any  case,  the  privilege  of  being  taught  at  all  by  Pasta — 
the  renowned  soprano  for  whom  Bellini  wrote  "La  Sonnam- 
bula"  and  "Norma" — does  not  seem  to  have  titled  Maurice 
Strakosch  for  his  coveted  operatic  career.  He  abandoned  the 
idea,  resumed  work  as  a  solo  pianist,  and,  after  winning  fur- 
ther success  in  that  capacity,  made  his  way  (as  already  stated) 
to  the  hospitable  shores  of  America  and  the  susceptible  heart 
of  Amalia  Patti.1  There  it  was  not  all  quite  plain  sailing; 
for  his  prospective  mother-in-law  strongly  objected  to  the 
match  and  very  nearly  succeeded  in  preventing  it.  The  fa- 
ther, however,  proved  less  awkward  to  manage.  He  liked 
Maurice  Strakosch  from  the  first,  and  their  long  family  and 
business  relations  appear  to  have  always  existed  on  a  mu- 
tually satisfactory  footing. 

Thus,  at  the  moment  when  the  possibilities,  pecuniary  and 
otherwise,  of  little  Adelina 's  prodigious  talent  stood  fully 
revealed  at  Tripler's  Hall  on  the  day  of  the  charity  concert, 
Amalia \s  newly  wedded  husband  had  just  returned  from  a 
two  years'  tour  of  the  States.  "Whether  he  was  present  at 
the  concert  he  does  not  state.  He  merely  mentions  that  the 
child  "made  a  sensation,"  and  adds  that  she  was  eight  years 
old — a  mistake  arising  from  his  impression  (never  altered, 
by  the  way)  that  she  was  born  in  1842. 

Yet  Maurice  Strakosch  must  either  have  been  on  the  spot 

i  Mme.  Maurice  Strakosch  lived  during  the  later  years  of  her  life  in 
Paris,  and  died  there  December  1G,  1915,  at  the  age  of  seventy-seven. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  27 

or  very  near  at  hand ;  for  immediately  after  the  debut  we  find 
him  proposing  to  undertake  the  management  of  an  extended 
provincial  tour,  with  Adelina  as  the  "star."  The  expenses 
were  to  be  kept  as  low  as  possible,  so  that,  at  the  outset  at 
any  rate,  the  uniform  price  of  half  a  dollar  might  be  charged 
for  seats.  The  arrangements  were  quickly  completed,  and 
late  in  the  spring  of  1850  the  tour,  which  was  to  last  for 
nearly  three  years,  made  a  start  at  Baltimore. 

Now  was  witnessed  a  strange  spectacle — strange  even  for 
the  land  of  Barnum  and  (as  it  was  then)  the  paradise  of  show- 
men !  A  child  of  some  seven  summers  was  to  inaugurate  her 
unparalleled  career  by  visiting  every  town  worth  going  to 
in  every  Eastern,  Middle,  and  Southern  State  of  the  Union; 
to  stand  upon  a  table  every  night  for  astonished  multitudes 
to  gaze  upon  and  listen  to ;  looking,  perchance,  like  a  delicate, 
fragile  piece  of  Dresden  china,  but  singing  with  the  moving 
appeal,  the  executive  brilliancy,  of  a  very  wonderful  little 
human  being — in  all  vocal  attributes  a  woman  long  before  her 
time. 

At  the  opening  concert  at  Baltimore 1  only  one  hundred 
persons  paid  for  their  seats.  But  the  hundred  went  away 
amazed — and  talked.  At  the  second  concert  the  total  rose 
to  three  hundred ;  and  so  the  tale  grew  until,  at  the  sixth, 
every  seat  had  been  sold  before  the  doors  opened.  The  room 
was  capable  of  holding  two  thousand  people,  so  the  receipts 
mounted  quickly  and  the  prospects  of  the  tour  became  very 
rosy  indeed. 

At  this  juncture  Strakosch  came  across  an  old  friend,  Ole 
Bull,  the  Norwegian  violinist,  who  was  also  paying  Baltimore 
a  visit.  For  once  the  latter  had  noted  a  falling-off  in  bus- 
iness.    "What     is    the    cause?"    he    asked.     "Little    Miss 


i  The  date  is  not  on  record,  but  it  must  have  been  in  the  autumn  of 


28  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Patti,"  they  told  him — the  phenomenal  child  soprano.  Ole 
Pull  went  to  hear  her,  and  instantly  perceived  that  there 
would  be  wisdom  in  converting  so  powerful  a  competitor  into  a 
partner.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  Strakosch  who  proposed 
the  deal.  Ole  Pull  accepted,  and  the  joint  tour  began  with- 
out delay. 

The  Norwegian  was  a  virtuoso  of  the  Paganini  school. 
Exceedingly  popular  in  the  United  States,  he  was  just  the 
right  kind  of  attraction  to  make  the  ensemble  irresistible.  It 
did  splendidly.  Month  after  month,  year  after  year,  the 
sweet  little  singer  and  the  bluff  Scandinavian  fiddler  went 
on  traveling  through  the  United  States,  Canada,  Mexico, 
and  Cuba,  revisiting  most  of  the  larger  towns  and  cities,  and 
making  money  everywhere. 

They  got  on  well  together,  for  Adelina  had  an  affectionate 
disposition  in  spite  of  her  caprices  and  her  occasional  dis- 
plays of  temper.  One  of  these  (related  by  Strakosch)  was 
quite  characteristic  of  her.  She  had  a  decided  liking  for 
champagne.  Ole  Bull,  her  neighbor  at  table  d'hote,  thought 
fit  on  one  occasion  to  refuse  to  give  her  any.  Another  child 
would  have  cried.  Adelina  adopted  her  own  method  of  show- 
ing her  annoyance.  With  her  pretty  little  hand  she  admin- 
istered a  sharp  smack  to  the  cheek  of  the  astonished  violinist. 

Again,  one  day  at  Cincinnati,  she  asked  Strakosch  to  get 
her  a  doll.  He  paid  no  particular  attention  to  her  request 
and  forgot  all  about  it.  When  the  concert  was  about  to  begin, 
Adelina  declared  that  she  would  not  sing  unless  she  had  her 
doll.  The  hall  was  crowded;  but  nothing  could  alter  her 
decision — nothing  but  the  doll.  The  manager  was  compelled 
to  run  out  and  buy  one  at  the  nearest  toy  store.  When  it 
was  handed  to  her,  Miss  Patti  dried  her  tears,  then  ran 
on  to  the  platform  and  created  the  usual  enthusiasm.1 

She  was  like  most  little  girls  of  her  age,  apart  from  her 

i  "Souvenirs  of  an  Impresario,"  by  Maurice  Strakosch. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  29 

singing  and  her  exceptional  facility  for  speaking  languages. 
At  this  time  she  could  converse  with  equal  fluency  in  English, 
Italian,  Spanish,  and  French;  later  in  life  she  added  to  these 
German  and  some  knowledge  of  Russian.  The  thunders  of 
applause  and  the  personal  attentions  evoked  by  her  juvenile 
achievements  never  turned  her  head.  She  took  them  for 
granted,  and  then,  as  thereafter,  would  no  doubt  have  won- 
dered greatly  if  they  had  not  been  forthcoming. 

The  fact  that  she  had  begun  to  earn  large  sums  of  money 
made  no  difference  whatever  to  her.1  She  remained  true  to 
her  dolls  and  playthings,  and  "enjoyed  the  companionship 
of  the  children  whom  she  met  at  the  different  hotels.  She  had 
often  to  be  taken  away  from  her  games  to  practise  her  scales 
and  exercises;  which,"  observes  her  manager,  "he  was  very 
particular  that  she  should  not  be  allowed  to  neglect." 

Here  the  question  fittingly  arises,  what  part  did  Maurice 
Strakosch  take,  both  during  and  immediately  after  this  lengthy 
tour,  in  the  vocal  education  of  Adelina  Patti? 

The  point  is  of  importance,  because  in  after  years  Strakosch 
put  forward  a  definite  claim  to  be  her  "first  and  only  mas- 
ter. ' '  This  was  met  by  Mme.  Patti  with  a  no  less  unqualified 
denial.2 

When  Hanslick  put  the  question  to  her  point-blank  in  1877, 
she  answered:  "Certainly  not.  Strictly  speaking,  Strakosch 
taught  me  only  Rosina  in  'II  Barbiere,'  and  subsequently, 

i  According  to  an  article  in  Harper's  Weekly,  when  this  tour  ended 
Adelina  Patti's  share  of  the  profits  amounted  to  twenty  thousand  dol- 
lars, "which  her  father  invested  in  a  country  seat,  the  summer  residence 
of  the  family." 

2  On  this  subject  Kuhe  says  in  his  "Reminiscences":  '"I  spoke  just 
now  of  Adelina  Patti's  brother-in-law  as  her  singing  master.  But  did 
she  ever  require  one?  I  maintain  that  Adelina  Patti  would  still  have 
been  all  that  she  was  thirty  years  ago,  and  is  now,  even  if  no  one  had 
trained  her  in  voice  production — scales,  shakes,  and  all  the  other  depart- 
ments of  vocal  tuition.  In  her  all  accomplishments  of  that  kind  were 
inborn." 


30  TITE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

when  I  was  travelling  about  Europe  as  a  regular  singer,  he 
went  through  my  characters  with  me."  On  the  other  hand,  al- 
though the  Strakosch  claim  was  excessive,  it  ought  not  to  be 
dismissed  as  utterly  groundless.  Let  us  endeavor  to  arrive  at 
the  truth. 

He  was,  of  course,  neither  her  "first"  nor  her  "only" 
teacher.  The  first,  as  we  know,  was  Ettore  Barili,  who  was, 
moreover,  to  teach  her  again  after  she  had  returned  home  to 
New  York.  But  it  will  be  readily  perceived  that,  during  a 
concert  tour  extending  over  three  years,  the  little  Adelina's 
repertoire  of  pieces  must  have  needed  occasional  replenish- 
ment. No  matter  how  regularly  she  might  practise  scales  and 
exercises,  she  could  hardly  be  expected  to  continue  picking  up 
arias  and  ballads  "by  ear"  during  the  whole  tour  without 
some  sort  of  individual  instruction. 

The  arias  that  she  sang  in  public  during  the  period  under 
discussion  included  several  that  had  been  made  familiar  in 
America  by  Jenny  Lind,  Henrietta  Sontag,  Bosio,  and  other 
shining  lights  of  the  vocal  firmament.  Those  that  she  learned 
during  the  long  peregrination  from  town  to  town  she  can 
have  studied  with  no  other  person  than  Maurice  Strakosch. 
He,  likewise,  must  have  tried  over  with  her  the  popular 
ballads  she  is  said  to  have  "warbled  so  deliciously  to  English 
words."  Her  father  never  gave  her  a  singing  lesson  in  his 
life. 

Maurice  Strakosch  was  sufficiently  well  equipped  for  the 
task.  He  had  had  lessons  from  Pasta  and  heard  her  teach. 
He  had  listened  to  most  of  the  famous  singers  of  his  time. 
He  was  well  acquainted  with  the  principles  and  traditions  of 
the  old  Italian  school.  True,  he  was  not  a  recognized  maestro 
di  canto.  But  who,  at  any  period  of  musical  history,  has  ever 
required  a  special  certificate  to  entitle  him  to  be  called  a 
teacher  of  singing?  If  the  gentleman  had  not  "protested  too 
much"  he  would  have  been  credited  with  more. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  31 

What  he  could  show  to  the  quick-eared  Adeliua  in  the  way 
of  adornments,  variations,  cadenzas,  and  all  the  elaborate 
ornamentation  essential  for  the  operatic  moreeaux  of  that 
time,  she  would  doubtless  learn  with  her  customary  facility. 
How  he  managed  to  show  her  the  proper  pronunciation  of 
the  words  in  the  ballads  is  not  quite  so  evident.  He  had  an 
accent  that  you  could  ' '  cut  with  a  knife, ' '  and,  had  she  repro- 
duced it  then  as  she  mimicked  it  in  after  years,  the  people 
would  have  gone  into  fits  of  laughter. 

Strakosch,  it  would  seem,  had  an  idea  much  later  in  life 
that  he  could  teach  English  oratorio  with  all  the  purity  of 
accent  which  he  had  admired  in  Lemmens-Sherrington  and 
Sims  Reeves.  His  ambition  was  to  make  a  great  Handelian 
singer  of  Mme.  Patti,  and,  according  to  her  own  graphic 
description,  this  is  how  he  would  have  had  her  pronounce 
the  words  of  the  air  ' '  Thou  didst  blow  with  the  wind, ' '  from 
"Israel  in  Egypt": 

"Zou  dids'  blow,  viz-ze-vint; 
Dey  zank,  ass  lett  in-de-mighty-vatters,"  etc. 

Needless  to  say,  her  ear  was  far  too  sensitive — English 
being  practically  her  mother-tongue — for  her  seriously  to 
imitate  this  kind  of  accent  in  the  songs  she  learned  as  a 
child.  When  she  grew  up  and  came  to  live  in  England,  her 
pronunciation  of  the  language,  if  not  free  from  Americanisms, 
very  quickly  improved.  She  occasionally  sang  a  song  in  the 
vernacular,  to  the  great  delight  of  British  and  American 
audiences;  but,  beyond  appearing  at  some  of  the  Handel 
Festivals,  and  filling  the  Centre  Transept  of  the  Crystal  Pal- 
ace with  penetrating  birdlike  tones,  she  evinced  no  desire  to 
shine  as  a  singer  of  oratorio. 

How  much  or  how  little  she  acquired  from  Strakosch  it  is 
not  now  easy  to  state.  If  he  incurred  the  punishment  of  being 
denied  credit  for  what  he  actually  did,  the  fault  was  his  own. 
He  paid  the   penalty  for  grasping  at  all  the  honors.     His 


32  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

bump  of  "love  of  approbation,"  as  the  phrenologists  term  it, 
was  a  great  deal  too  large.  In  'Lis  "Souvenirs"  Le  does  not 
even  mention  the  name  of  Ettore  Barili !  He  spares  a  passing 
word  for  Signora  Paravelli,  but  merely  to  say  that  she  "took 
great  pleasure  in  making  Adelina  sing  to  her  accompani- 
ments."1 His  one  glimpse  of  modesty  is  when  Le  limits  Lis 
sole  pedagogic  activities  to  a  period  of  about  ten  years.  It 
was  his  privilege,  he  says,  to  be  for  ''plus  de  dix  annees  le 
seul  professeur  et  impresario  d'Adelina  Patti." 

But  there  were  other  claimants  besides  Maurice  Strakosek 
to  the  honor  of  being  Patti 's  teacher.  Tbe  question  arose 
in  the  columns  of  the  Times  in  September,  1884,  in  conse- 
quence of  a  remark  made  by  Dr.  Franz  Hueffer,  who  had 
not  long  succeeded  James  Davison  as  the  musical  critic  of 
that  paper.  The  correspondence  -  excited  some  interest — 
chiefly  on  account  of  Strakosch's  reply,  which,  by  the  way, 
is  mentioned  in  the  meagre  account  of  Patti  given  in  the 
revised  edition  of  Grove's  Dictionary. 

These  various  claims,  however,  were  of  an  extremely 
shadowy  kind.  No  doubt  several  of  her  conductors  performed 
the  more  or  less  mechanical  duty  of  "coaching"  Patti  in  cer- 
tain of  the  operas  she  sang  under  their  batons;  and  the  fact 
that  she  rarely,  if  ever,  attended  a  rehearsal  rendered  this 
peculiarly  essential.  But  coaching  and  teaching  are  two 
widely  different  functions.  The  present  writer  did  not  call 
himself  one  of  Mme.  Patti 's  "teachers"  because  he  once  had 
the  privilege  of  helping  her  to  master  the  original  text  of 
some  Wagner  pieces — the  only  German,  by  the  way,  that  she 
ever  sang  in  public. 

There  is  plenty  of  evidence  that  she  wras  a  child  with  a 

1  True,  he  also  mentions  that  she  taught  her  to  read  and  write.  Pre- 
sumably, therefore,  Signora  Paravelli  was  responsible  for  that  exqui- 
sitely neat  Italian  hand  which  always  aroused  the  admiration  of  Mme. 
Patti's  correspondents. 

-  See  Appendix  A. 


ADELINA  PATTI   AT   THE   AGE   OF  NINE 
From  a  daguerreotpye 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  33 

mind  of  her  own;  that  she  was  something  more  than  the 
mere  ordinary  little  girl  with  a  precocious  vocal  gift.  Her 
wilfulness  and  her  occasional  fits  of  temper  quickly  sub- 
sided under  soothing  and  kindly  treatment.  And  of  this 
there  was  no  lack,  for  every  one  but  her  father  spoiled  her. 
Yet  she  was  not  exactly  a  ''spoilt  child."  If  her  nature 
was  to  fight  for  her  own  way,  she  was  au  fond  obedient ; 
and  even  at  this  tender  age  she  seems  to  have  had  an  extra- 
ordinary realization  of  her  duty  as  an  artist.  It  was  enough 
for  her  to  know  that  certain  things  were  forbidden  because 
they  might  injure  her  voice  or  were  not  good  for  her  singing. 
She  would  grumble,  perhaps,  but  immediately  yield. 

It  is  not  difficult  to  visualize  her  expressive  Italian  face 
at  the  age  of  nine  or  ten.  Happily,  there  is  the  now  well- 
known  photograph  (which  she  lent  to  the  writer  for  repro- 
duction as  a  frontispiece  to  his  byook  "Thirty  Years  of 
Musical  Life")  taken  of  her  seated  at  a  table  between  two 
of  her  youthful  friends,  who  have  been  eliminated  from  the 
picture.  "What  a  remarkable  little  face  it  is !  How  sedate 
and  calm,  how  full  of  thought  and  contemplation,  how 
strangely  mature  for  her  years !  Yet  it  is  not  sad.  It  bears 
only  that  quiet,  serious  expression,  already  natural  to  her, 
which  she  ever  wore  when  face  to  face  with  the  camera.  The 
most  photographed  woman  of  her  time,  there  is  not  extant  a 
picture  of  her  that  shows  her  fine  teeth  or  the  smallest  sem- 
blance of  an  artificial  smile.  And  yet  her  smile  when  her 
countenance  lit  up  with  animation — most  of  all  when  she  was 
singing — was  one  of  her  greatest  charms. 

Another  picture  (in  words,  this  one)  of  the  child  Adelina 
has,  by  a  fortunate  chance,  come  into  the  writer's  possession. 
It  appeared  in  an  American  magazine  nearly  forty  years  ago, 
with  some  quaint  pencil  illustrations  that  unquestionably 
enhance  the  value  of  the  story,  the  authenticity  of  which 
(having  regard  to  the  source  whence  it  came,  if  for  no  other 


31  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

reason)  there  is  not  the  smallest  ground  for  doubting.  The 
excerpl  bears  date  "March,  1881,"  and  from  that  lime  to  this 
has  probably  never  appeared  in  print.  It  throws  a  profoundly 
interesting  lighl  upon  the  character  of  our  heroine  at  this 
concert  epoch  of  her  juvenile  career,  and  is  therefore  repro- 
duced here  in  its  entirety: 

RECOLLECTIONS  OF  A  LITTLE  PRIMA  DONNA 
By  Augusta  de  Bubna 

A  number  of  years  ago,  certain  placards  and  programs,  posted 
and  distributed  upon  the  walls  and  streets  of  a  small  Southern  city, 
heralded  the  coming  of  a  wonderful  entertainment. 

Among  the  artists  announced  upon  the  glaring  red,  yellow,  and 
blue  bills  there  were  two  old  and  renowned  names — Ole  Bull,  the 
celebrated  violinist,  and  Maurice  Strakosch,  tbe  brilliant  pianist;  but 
the  largest  and  leading  letters  spelled  out  the  name  of  the  youngest 
and  tiniest  member  of  the  concert  troupe :  "Mademoiselle  Adelina 
Patti;  Aged  Eleven  Years.  The  Wonderful  Child  Prima 
Donna  !" 

Tickets  for  the  grand  concert  sold  very  rapidly,  and  there  was 
every  promise  that  a  crowded  house  would  welcome  to  the  town  the 
young  singer  and  her  veteran  companions. 

Adelina  Patti  and  Ole  Bull   Welcome  Their   Visitors 

The  day  was  dreary  and  dismal;  a  sullen  spring  rain  set  in  during 
the  morning,  and  gave  evidence  of  lasting  many  hours. 

Upon  the  arrival  of  the  troupe  at  the  hotel,  the  business  manager, 
together  with  Mr.  Strakosch,  came  over  to  the  music  store  in  the 
place  to  see  about  the  sale  of  seats  and  tickets,  and,  while  here,  the 
pleasant  musician  discovered,  playing  behind  the  counter  with  their 
dollies,  two  little  blonde-haired  lassies. 

He  felt  at  once  he  would  find  relief  for  the  dreariness  of  a  whole 
day  indoors  for  his  sister-in-law,  whom  he  had  left  already  fretting 
and  petulant. 

He  consequently  at  once  made  gentle  advances  toward  acquaint- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  35 

anceship,  by  telling  the  two  maidens  about  the  lonely  little  girl  over 
at  the  hotel,  who  was  counting  rain-drops  on  the  window-panes,  and 
begging  them  to  come  and  see  the  little  Adelina.  The  children's 
interest  was  at  once  awakened.  They  obtained  permission  from  their 
parents  to  visit  the  little  singer,  put  on  clean  aprons,  and  soon,  with 
their  dollies  in  their  arms,  they  skipped  along  in  the  rain  beside 
"the  greatest  living  pianist"  of  the  day. 

When  they  reached  the  hotel  and  the  room  where  the  strange  little 
girl  was  to  be  presented,  a  curious  tableau  met  the  eyes  of  the 
lassies,  and  the  first  sound  which  they  recollect  ever  hearing  from 
that  voice  which  has  since  sung  "pearls  and  diamonds,"  was  a  merry, 
tinkling,  mocking  laugh. 

The  room  was  a  great,  dull,  dark  place,  scantily  furnished,  and 
bare  of  comfort;  in  the  middle  of  the  floor  there  stood  a  tall  gentle- 
man with  long,  thick  gray  hair,  his  eyes  tightly  bandaged  by  the 
tantalizing  sprite  whose  mocking  voice  had,  for  several  minutes,  led 
him  an  elusive  dance  all  about  the  room. 

There  was  a  sudden  pause  as  the  door  opened.  The  gentleman 
pushed  up  his  bandage,  and  the  little  girl  opened  very  wide  a  pair 
of  brilliant  dark  eyes.  Mr.  Strakoseh  came  quickly  forward,  leading 
the  now  timid  strangers,  and  said  kindly  to  the  famous  little  singer : 

"I  have  brought  you  a  couple  of  playmates,  Adelina;  you  will  re- 
lease Ole  Bull,  now,  from  his  chase  of  you,  and  after  you  have  enter- 
tained the  little  girls,  you  are  to  go  home  with  them  to  dine,  and 
play  until  tea-time." 

The  little  girl  came  toward  the  shrinking  lassies,  smiled  in  their 
faces  brightly,  and  then  kissed  each  on  both  cheeks,  in  a  funny 
foreign  manner. 

By  this  time,  too,  the  tall  old  gentleman  had  untied  his  bandage, 
and  was  also  beaming  down  on  the  little  strangers  with  a  gentle, 
kindly  smile,  kissing  them  as  well,  and  saying  in  a  soft,  low  voice : 
"It  is  well  for  Adelina  to  have  some  little  ones  with  whom  to  play — 
she  tires  quickly  of  us  older  children.  I  am  too  big  and  tall  for 
her,  and  I  will  leave  you  now  to  make  friends  and  play  together." 
And  he  at  once  walked  to  the  door. 

"Now,  a  Briglit,  Pleasant  Expression,  Please!" 

But  her  imperial  highness  was  not  of  the  same  mind.     On  the 


.56  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

contrary,  she  insisted  stoutly  that  "the  more,  the  merrier,"  and  again 
the  mild  blue  eyes  of  the  Norwegian  were  blinded,  and  down  upon 
his  knees  knelt  the  famous  artist,  to  "j>ick  up  pins  and  needles." 

At  the  first  symptoms  of  weariness  on  the  part  of  the  children, 
however,  the  kind  old  gentleman  quickly  went  his  way;  and  the  little 
girls,  left  alone  now,  looked  gravely  at  one  another,  from  top  to 
toe,  with  the  curious,  animal-like  gaze  with  which  newly  acquainted 
children  regard  each  other.  Then  the  lassies  offered  the  new  friend 
their  dollies,  which  had  lain  upon  the  table  during  the  game ;  but 
such  playthings  were  not  in  her  line.  She  looked  scornfully  upon 
their  waxen  loveliness,  and  snubbed  the  idea  of  "making  believe 
mamas." 

"No,"  she  cried,  tossing  back  her  long,  blue-black  braids.  "No; 
I  am  going  to  take  your  pictures.  Come,  sit  down  and  allow  me  to 
arrange  you  properly." 

Poor  child!  She  had  herself  been  posed  and  taken  so  often  that 
she  was  perfectly  familiar  with  the  whole  performance.  "Hold  up 
your  chins.  Ah,  that  is  par  fait!  Now,  if  you  please,  look  this  way, 
— a  trifle  to  the  left.  So;  that  is  charming,  my  dears.  Now! — a 
bright,  pleasant  expression,  please."  So  she  went  on,  as  she  ar- 
ranged to  her  satisfaction  her  wonder-eyed  and  very  willing  little 
companions.  Then,  taking  a  chair,  she  threw  a  towel  over  her  little 
shiny  black  head,  looked  at  the  children  through  the  bars  of  its  low 
back,  and  then  for  the  space  of  a  few  seconds  was  invisible.  Pres- 
ently she  reappeared,  looking  very  grave  and  mysterious,  turned 
her  back,  and  then,  with  an  imaginary  negative  in  her  little  hand, 
came  toward  her  sitters,  asking  their  opinion  of  the  pictures.  Over 
and  over  again  was  this  play  performed,  to  an  admiring  and  de- 
lighted audience  of  two,  though  the  actors  were  sometimes  reversed, 
and  the  strange  little  girl  herself  assumed  the  part  of  the  sitter,  and 
threw  into  convulsions  of  Laughter  her  amused  little  photographers, 
by  her  sudden  changes  of  face  and  position. 

At  noon  Ole  Bull  and  "Maurice,"  as  the  little  Adelina  familiarly 
called  Mr.  Strakosch,  returned  to  the  room,  and  with  them  came  a 
dark-browed,  foreign-speaking  gentleman,  of  whom  the  child  ap- 
peared to  stand  in  awe,  calling  him  "Papa"  with  a  more  respectful 
tone  than  that  in   which   she  addressed   the  other  two  gentlemen. 


ADELINA  PATTI  AT  THE  AGE  OF  TEN 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  37 

This  dark  gentleman  assisted  her  in  putting  on  the  little  hat  and 
sack  in  which  she  was  to  cross  the  street  and  accompany  her  visitors 
home  to  dine,  tying  a  handkerchief  around  her  throat,  and,  in  a 
sharp,  severe  tone,  giving  her  a  command  which  the  lassies  supposed 
meant  that  she  must  "be  a  good  girl." 

They  afterward  discovered  that  his  words  were  really  a  strict 
injunction  as  to  what  she  was  not  to  eat  at  the  strange  table. 

"No,  thanks ;  I  dare  not  taste  it  if  there  is  any  pepper  in  it — Papa 
would  be  terribly  angry,"  she  said,  when  helped  at  table;  and  then 
she  told  how  beautifully  they  cooked  macaroni  at  home,  and  wished 
ever  so  devoutly  that  she  could  have  some  "that  veiy  minute,"  and 
the  lassies  felt  veiy  badly  indeed  because  a  large  dish  of  her  favorite 
food  could  not  be  procured  at  once  for  their  charming  little  guest. 

Playing  at  Opera — Lucia  and  Edgardo 

After  dinner,  a  few  delightful  hours  were  passed  in  the  play- 
room ;  and  such  plays  were  never  enacted  before  or  since.  Dishes 
and  dolls  were  swept  aside  with  scarcely  a  look;  but,  spying  a 
little  tin  sword  and  belt  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  the  little  "born 
actress"  exclaimed : 

"Come,  we  will  play  opera.  I  will  be  Lucia,  you  shall  be  Edgardo. 
See,  with  this  sword  and  belt  you  will  look  like  a  man ;  and  you 
must  love  me  passionately  and  be  killed;  and  I  shall  go  mad  and 
rave  over  your  dead  body." 

Then  two  little  lassies  were  instructed  in  the  art  of  killing  and 
dying,  with  stage  directions  for  entrees  and  exits,  while  the  little 
Adelina  unbound  the  glossy,  long  braids  of  her  blue-black  hair,  and 
went  "mad  and  raved"  over  her  lover  with  the  tin  sword  and  belt, 
who  lay  dying  before  her. 

Many  years  after,  when  the  famous  prima  donna,  then  but  a  mere 
girl,  made  her  debut  at  the  Philadelphia  Academy  of  Music,  the 
opera  was  "Lucia  di  Lammermoor" ;  but  the  Edgardo  of  the  play- 
room sat  among  the  audience, — not  in  a  tin  sword  and  belt, — and 
wondered  if  there  came  a  recollection  to  the  diva  of  her  childhood's 
performance  in  the  old  play-room. 

But  to  go  back  to  my  story.  That  afternoon  was  all  too  short, 
notwithstanding  a  full  repertoire  of  operas  was  gone  through  with 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

brilliant  effect,  and  when  the  summons  came  for  the  little  Adelina 
to  return  to  the  hotel  to  prepare  for  the  concert,  she  was  unwilling 
to  obey,  protesting  forcibly  in  her  pretty,  half-broken  English,  and 
emphasizing  her  dislike  with  shrugs  and  stamps,  and  naughty  sound- 
ing French  and  Italian  words,  which  made  the  lassies  open  their 
blue  eyes,  quite  shocked  at  their  diva's  temper.  "Maurice,"  who 
was  very  good-natured,  listened  laughingly  to  the  tirade,  and  then 
compromised  by  allowing  his  mistress  to  take  back  with  her  to  the 
hotel  her  beloved  little  friends,  to  see  her  dressed  for  the  concert. 

Oh,  the  wonder  of  it!  To  see  the  little  pink  silk  robe,  with  its 
graduated  bands  of  black  velvet  and  lace,  spread  out  upon  the  bed, 
not  by  a  mother's  careful  touch,  but  by  a  father's  hand;  the  tiny 
boots  laced  up  neatly,  and  the  tumbled  locks  braided,  looped  around 
the  little  ears  adorned  with  velvet  rosettes,  and  diamonds  hung 
therein;  then  a  pair  of  kid  gloves  coaxed  on  the  dark,  lithe  hands, 
and  by  degrees,  before  their  eyes,  the  lassies  beheld  their  little, 
frowsy,  careless  romp  of  the  play-room  transformed  into  a  wonder- 
ful young  lady  in  silk  and  jeAvels — a  prima  donna. 

The  Little  Prima  Donna  at  the  Concert 

"Now,  be  sure  to  sit  in  the  very  frontest  seat,  so  I  can  see  you  the 
whole  time,  and  wait  for  me  after  the  concert  is  over,  so  I  can  kiss 
you  good  night,  won't  you?"  she  coaxed  as  the  lassies  were  hurried 
away  to  be  dressed  for  the  evening. 

Was  it  "Addie,"  they  wondered,  when  there  was  handed  out  upon 
the  stage,  to  a  round  of  rapturous  applause,  a  little,  self-possessed, 
low-courtesying  damsel,  who  scanned  the  house  with  indolent,  haughty 
eyes,  until  they  fell  upon  the  "frontest"  seats,  and  then — ought  it  to 
be  told  of  her? — actually  winked  her  recognition,  as  the  bright  eyes 
discovered  her  playmates  of  the  day  looking  up  in  adoration  at  the 
marvelous  creature  before  them. 

Then,  a  pause,  a  prelude,  and — was  it  a  lark  or  a  nightingale? 
"0  Luce  di  quest'  Anima,"  "Camaval  de  Venise,"  "Casta  Diva," 
gushed  out  of  that  little  brown  throat,  and  the  house  rocked  with 
applause.  It  was  exquisite,  wonderful — that  voice — as  all  the  world 
knows  now. 

The  concert  over,  a  low,  sweeping  bow,  a  bright  smile,  and  a  quick 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  39 

little  nod  toward  the  front  row  of  seats,  and  presently  a  whirl  of 
rose-colored  silk  came  rushing  down  the  aisle,  and  half  of  the  crowd, 
remaining  behind,  beheld  a  pathetic  little  tableau. 

"We  are  going  away  to-night,  now,  and  I  never  knew  it!"  cried 
the  child,  throwing  her  arms  around  her  two  little  friends.  "And 
Maurice  says  I  must  say  good-bye,  and  I  shall  never  see  you  again. 
Promise  me  you  will  never  forget  me!"  And,  with  a  passion  of 
embraces  and  tears,  she  repeated  over  and  over:  "Promise  me  you 
will  never,  never  forget  me !" 

"Never!  Never!"  came  back  the  sobbing  replies.  Then  a  long 
clinging  of  dark  arms  to  two  white  little  necks,  a  hurried  snatching 
away  of  the  tear-stained,  tragic  little  creature,  and  the  carnage 
whirled  away — far  away  upon  the  "flood  of  years" — the  much  loved 
and  never  forgotten  little  child  prima  donna. 


CHAPTER  IV 

Girlhood  to  Womanhood — Last  Juvenile  Tour  with  Gottschalk — Ope- 
ratic Yearnings — .Mother  and  Daughter — Training  for  the  Stage — 
Strakosch  or  Muzio? — Ullmaiin  Consents — The  Terms — Preparing  for 
the  New  York  Debut — The  Final  Rehearsals — The  Great  Event — 
The  Criticisms — The  Season  that  Followed. 

THE  five  years  that  followed  upon  the  close  of  the  first  con- 
cert tour  marked  an  important  period  of  transition. 
The  immediate  object  of  exploiting  the  prodigy  had  been  ac- 
complished. From  a  position  of  pecuniary  difficulty  the  Patti 
family  had  been  elevated  to  one  of  comparative  affluence  and 
comfort.  They  continued  to  live  in  and  near  New  York,  and 
the  gifted  girl  carried  out  numerous  profitable  engagements 
both  there  and  in  the  large  neighboring  cities. 

From  time  to  time  she  met  various  artists  of  renown,  all 
of  whom  were  much,  struck  by  her  extraordinary  talent  and 
predicted  a  brilliant  future  for  her.  Mme.  Sontag  told 
her  she  "would  be  one  of  the  greatest  singers  in  the  world." 
Mme.  Alboni  said  that  "if  she  went  to  Paris  she  would 
make  a  furore."  Both  predictions  were  to  be  fulfilled  to  the 
letter. 

But  before  that  much  was  to  happen.  Now,  to  begin  with, 
there  came  the  interval  during  which,  by  Strakosch 's  sage 
advice,  it  was  decided  that  she  should  withdraw  entirely  from 
the  concert-room.  This  began  in  the  summer  or  autumn  of 
1855,  at  which  date  Adelina  had  not  quite  entered  her 
"teens."  '  The  exact  duration  of  the  period  of  absolute  rest 
cannot  be  stated  with  certainty.  According  to  Strakosch,  she 
wras  not  to  sing  again  in  public  until  she  was  fifteen ;  but  there 

i  One  of  her  last  appearances  as  a  little  girl  was  at  "a  grand  vocal 
and  instrument ;il  concert  in  aid  of  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  Societies," 
given  at  Niblo's  Saloon,  New  York,  on  February  27,  1855. 

40 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  41 

is  evidence  that  this  understanding  was  not  adhered  to.  Some 
time  during  the  latter  part  of  1857  the  pianist  Louis  Moreau 
Gottschalk  was  in  New  York,  arranging  a  tour  through  the 
Southern  States,  to  extend  to  the  West  Indies.  He  proposed 
that  Adelina  should  go  with  him.  She  had  already  profited 
by  her  "rest,"  and  her  voice  was  broadening  out  with  every 
promise  of  becoming  a  powerful,  resonant  organ.  Her  father 
did  not  see  any  necessity  for  waiting  longer.  Gottschalk 's 
offer  was  accepted  and  concert  work  was  resumed. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Times,  already  referred  to,  Strakosch 
states  that  this  tour  lasted  two  years;  in  his  "Souvenirs" 
he  describes  it  as  a  petite  tournee.  In  either  case,  it  brought 
the  young  singer's  juvenile  career  as  a  concert  artist  to  a 
close.  When  she  returned  to  New  York,  it  was  to  pave  the 
way  for  her  entrance  into  the  branch  of  artistic  life  which  it 
had  long  been  her  openly  expressed  desire  and  ambition  to 
follow,  namely,  the  operatic  stage.  How  this  was  accom- 
plished we  shall  now  see. 

From  the  strangely  interesting  little  girl,  Adelina  had  blos- 
somed into  a  fascinating  "maiden  of  bashful  fifteen."  "In 
figure,"  she  has  said,  "I  was  still  a  child.  I  was  small  and 
rather  delicate."  x  But  her  spirit,  her  ideas,  her  aspirations, 
were  those  of  a  woman  who  knew  her  own  mind,  and,  it  may 
be  added,  who  generally  managed  to  have  her  own  way. 

Her  notion  of  becoming  a  prima  donna  forthwith  did  not 
command  unanimous  approval  in  the  famity  circle.  They 
thought  her  much  too  young;  and,  from  their  point  of  view, 
they  were  undoubtedly  right.  The  ordinary  girl  of  fifteen 
is  often  not  mature  enough  to  begin  regular  singing  lessons, 
much  less  undertake  roles  and  perform  the  heavy  physical 
tasks  inseparable  from  an  operatic  career.  Her  mother  in- 
sisted on  her  learning  to  make  dresses  and  do  all  kinds  of 

i  "Musikalische  Stationen,"  Eduard  Hanslick. 


112  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

needlework.  "The  voice,"  she  assured  her  precocious  daugh- 
ter, "is  soon  lost,  and  the  operatic  stage  is  a  most  uncertain 
means  of  livelihood."  x 

The  good  lady  spoke,  alas,  from  experience !  But  the  con- 
siderations that  had  been  very  real  and  definite  in  her  own 
case  did  not  apply  (never,  indeed,  were  to  apply)  to  her 
youngest  daughter;  and,  if  she  did  not  then  know,  she  was 
very  soon  to  learn  that  Adelina  was  no  ordinary  girl.  She 
had  made  up  her  mind  to  go  in  for  opera,  and  nothing  on 
earth  would  stop  her.  What  if  the  work  were  hard?  It 
would  not  be  too  hard  for  her,  since  it  would  cost  her  no 
undue  effort  or  strain  either  to  sing  or  act.  She  could  do 
both  with  such  ease  and  such  pure  sense  of  enjoyment  that 
what  might  be  labor  to  others  seemed  to  her  merely  recreation. 

Her  voice  was  now  settling  down  into  a  rich,  lovely  soprano, 
clear  and  vibrant  as  a  bell,  especially  in  the  head  register, 
which  had  a  range  extending  easily  to  the  F  in  alt.  The 
tone  of  the  medium  was  not  yet  fully  developed,  but  made  up 
in  sweetness  for  what  it  lacked  in  power.  The  timbre  and 
character  of  the  whole  organ  were  singularly  mature,  dis- 
tinctive, and  individual.  It  possessed  a  charm  that  must 
even  at  this  time  have  been  strangely  haunting. 

It  was  not  long  after  her  return  from  the  Gottschalk  tour 
that  she  began  to  study  roles — Lucia,  Amina,  and  Rosina 
among  the  first — under  the  guidance  of  Ettore  Barili.  She 
learned  with  abnormal  rapidity.  No  one  but  herself,  how- 
ever, was  anxious  to  hasten  her  debut.  There  is  no  evidence 
to  confirm  Strakosch's  assertion,2  that  her  parents  were  now 
desirous  for  her  to  appear  in  opera  as  quickly  as  possible, 
or  that  it  required  his  permission  to  defer  the  event  for 
another  year.3 

i  "Musikalische  Stationen." 

2  "Letter  to  the  Times,"  sec  Appendix  A. 

3  The  following  incident    (related  in  the  London  Figaro)    took  plaea 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  43 

To  be  exact,  twelve  months  did  not  elapse  before  it  occurred. 
If,  as  he  states,  she  was  absent  for  two  years  with  Gottschalk, 
she  must  have  been  nearly  sixteen  (winter  of  1858-9)  when 
she  started  her  operatic  training — not  fifteen,  as  he  suggests. 
Allowing  that  she  was  ready  to  come  out  by  the  summer  of 
1859,  she  did  not  actually  do  so  until  the  following  November. 
The  intervening  period  cannot,  therefore,  have  exceeded  four 
or  five  months,  during  which  were  to  come  the  "audition"  and 
the  further  preparation  under  the  conductor  Manzocchi,  men- 
tioned hereafter.  Once  more  the  worthy  Maurice  was  wrong 
in  his  dates. 

But  what  is  of  greater  importance  is  to  glance  for  a  moment 
at  the  horizon  that  was  to  witness  the  rising  of  the  new  star. 
Its  aspect  at  this  period  was  assuredly  clouded  and  dark. 

Since  1854  the  Astor  Place  Opera  House  had  been  replaced 
by  the  more  commodious  Academy  of  Music,  and  toward 
that  establishment  the  eyes  of  the  budding  prima  donna 
naturally  turned.  The  regime  there  of  her  good  friend  Max 
Maretzek  had  ended  in  failure;  but  one  of  its  present  man- 
agers was  no  other  than  Maurice  Strakosch,  so  that,  if  the 

a  year  before  Patti's  appearance  on  the  operatic  stage.  She  and  her 
sister  Carlotta  were  present  one  evening  at  a  party.  By  some  mis- 
take it  had  been  neglected  to  order  a  carriage  to  take  the  young  ladies 
home.  It  had  been  snowing  heavily  all  day.  The  Misses  Patti  were 
in  evening  attire,  their  feet  protected  only  by  white  satin  slippers.  It 
was  two  o'clock  in  the  morning;  no  convenient  way  of  getting  a  con- 
veyance; the  greater  part  of  the  guests  had  left.  What  could  be  done? 
Finally  a  gentleman  had  the  ingenious  idea  of  procuring  a  sleigh  which 
stood  before  a  grocery  store  at  the  corner.  The  Misses  Patti,  well 
wrapped  in  shawls  and  covered  with  blankets,  got  in  it.  The  clothes- 
lines were  fetched,  fastened  to  the  sleigh;  a  number  of  gentlemen 
placed  themselves  in  front  of  it,  and  drew  the  ladies  to  their  home  in 
Twenty-second  Street,  between  Ninth  and  Tenth  avenues.  This  was 
probably  the  diva's  first  triumphal  car,  and  afforded  her  and  those  tak- 
ing part  in  the  occasion  great  fun  and  pleasure.  "Never,"  she  said  after- 
ward, "will  I  forget  this  incident,  which  I  look  upon  as  a  good  omen 
for  my  future  career." 


44  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

latter  were  willing,  there  ought  to  be  no  difficulty  about 
arranging  for  her  debut.  Strakosch,  however,  had  a  senior 
partner — an  impresario  named  Ullmann — who  proved  less  easy 
to  deal  with.1 

Ullmann  was  a  manager  with  Barnum-like  instincts.  He 
was  on  the  lookout  only  for  European  celebrities.  In  the 
previous  year  (1858),  while  Strakosch  was  turning  his  atten- 
tion to  the  provinces,  Ullmann  was  exploiting  two  artists  of 
renown,  namely  Thalberg,  the  pianist,  and  Mile.  Piccolomini, 
the  prima  donna  whose  Violetta  in  "La  Traviata"  had  just 
won  her  meteor-like  fame  in  London  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre. 
Hence,  when  approached  with  a  proposition  to  include  "little 
Miss  Patti,"  the  American  soprano,  in  his  list  of  artists,  his 
first  reply  was  a  blank  refusal.  "He  objected,"  she  told 
Ilanslick  afterwards,  "to  allowing  a  beginner  like  me  to  come 
out  in  a  leading  part  in  New  York ;  and  I  would  not  listen  to 
anything  about  secondary  parts."2 

But  Strakosch,  who  bv  this  time  had  immense  faith  in  the 
abilities  of  his  youthful  relative,  was  not  the  man  to  take  no 
for  an  answer.  He  went  at  his  partner  again  and  again,  and 
at  length,  after  much  persuasion,  that  individual  gave  his 
consent.  It  was  definitely  arranged  that  Adelina  should  make 
her  appearance  at  the  Academy  of  Music  before  the  end  of 
the  year.  Her  delight  knew  no  bounds.  Eighteen  years 
later  she  said  to  her  friend  Hanslick:  "My  passion  for  the 
stage  and  my  talent  had  waxed  wonderfully.  I  was  thor- 
oughly up  in  several  parts,  and  I  did  not  know  what  stage- 
fright  meant."  3 

1  Mr.  II.  E.  Krehbiel,  in  his  "Chapters  of  Opera,"  says  that  "it  was 
under  the  co-consulship  of  Maretzek  and  Qllmann  that  Adelina  Patti 
made  her  debut  at  the  Academy  of  Music."  But  according  to  Mme.  Patti 
and  her  brother-in-law,  and  also  Signor  Mu/.io.  the  conductor,  the  joint 
directors  of  the  opera  house  were  Messrs.  Ullmann  and  Strakosch. 

a  "Musikalische  Stationem." 

3  "Musikalische  Stationem." 


ADELINA  PATTI  WITH  HER  FATHER 


THE  EEIGN  OF  PATTI  45 

But  in  which  part  should  she  make  this  all-important  debut  ? 
The  question  was  no  doubt  seriously  discussed,  though 
Strakosch  makes  no  mention  of  it.  Stranger  still,  his  record 
of  the  debut  itself  omits  the  name  of  the  opera  in  which  it 
occurred.  Strangest  of  all,  he  even  fails  to  include  it  in  the 
otherwise  complete  list  of  the  operas  in  which  she  appeared 
during  that  memorable  first  season.1 

Why  was  this?  We  can  arrive  at  only  one  conclusion: 
Strakosch  was  in  the  awkward  position  of  having  called  him- 
self "  Patti 's  first  and  only  master,"  yet  he  was  not  the  man 
who  prepared  her  in  the  opera  wherein  she  made  her  debut. 
Either  jealousy  or  diplomacy  caused  him  to  maintain  silence 
on  this  interesting  point. 

Some  mystery  envelops  the  whole  situation  at  this  juncture. 
It  is  here  that  Signor  Muzio  appears  upon  the  scene.  He 
was  subsequently  to  become  known  as  the  intimate  friend  and 
companion  of  Verdi,  but  just  now  he  was  the  principal  con- 
ductor at  the  Academy  of  Music,  New  York,  and  in  that 
capacity  was  present  at  the  "audition"  in  the  theatre  when 
Adelina  Patti  endeavored  to  convince  Ullmann  that,  young 
as  she  was  ("half-grown  girl,"  as  she  described  herself), 
she  was  quite  woman  and  singer  enough  to  make  a  success  in 
opera.  According  to  his  own  account,  Muzio  played  a  very 
prominent  part  in  the  business.2 

He  declares  that  it  was  not  Strakosch,  but  the  latter 's  wife, 
Amalia  Patti,  who  encouraged  the  idea  of  Adelina  going  on 
the  operatic  stage.  "Her  husband  was  opposed  to  it,  saying 
she  was  too  young. ' '  But  unfortunately  this  statement  differs 
in  toto  from  that  made  by  Mme.  Patti  to  Hanslick.  She  dis- 
tinctly tells  him  that  it  was  Strakosch  who  "overcame  Ull- 
mann 's  scruples."  Be  that  as  it  may — and  our  inclination 
is  to  believe  the  "little  lady,"  as  having  the  better  memory 

i  "Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  pp.  16-17. 
2  See  Appendix  A. 


46  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

of  the  two — Signor  Muzio  also  puts  forward  the  claim  that 
he  turned  the  scales  in  her  favor.  He  was  appealed  to,  he 
says,  and  "having  heard  a  single  piece  sung  by  her,  I  de- 
cided [sic]  on  the  debut." 

What  he  really  meant,  no  doubt,  was  that  his  opinion 
decided  the  question  whether  she  should  then  make  her  debut 
or  not.  A  quarter  of  a  century  had  elapsed  when  the  old 
maestro  recalled,  with  a  tone  of  lofty  pride,  the  episode  in 
which  he  had  taken  part,  and  one  can  forgive  him  his  extra 
touch  of  self-importance.  By  then  he  was  full  of  the  dread 
significance  of  his  decision,  and  probably  convinced  that  but 
for  him  the  debut  of  Adelina  Patti  might  have  been  deferred 
for  years,  if  not  for  ever ! 

The  salient  feature  of  the  affair  is  that  Muzio  was  the 
person  selected  to  coach  the  young  soprano  in  the  opera  in 
which  she  was  to  make  her  first  appearance,  "Lucia  di  Lam- 
mermoor."  Study  it  with  him  she  did — most  diligently,  too; 
but  the  circumstance  mattered  naught  to  any  one  then.  It 
was  only  in  after  years,  when  more  than  one  man  was  clam- 
oring for  the  distinction  of  being  called  " Patti 's  teacher," 
that  the  question  came  up. 

Hence  the  jealousy  and  friction  between  Strakosch  and 
Muzio  and  the  subsequent  correspondence  in  the  Times. 
Muzio,  of  course,  declared  that  he  alone  "taught"  her  the  part 
of  Lucia.  Strakosch  was  no  less  positive  that  he  had  "al- 
tered some  passages  in  which  her  voice  was  too  severely  taxed, 
and  introduced  cadenzas  which  enabled  her  to  employ  her 
marvellous  upper  register." 

Both  statements  were  doubtless  founded  more  or  less  upon 
fact.  So  at  that  point  the  present  writer  is  quite  content 
to  dismiss  the  controversy  with  the  award — "honors  divided." 

During  her  initial  engagement  to  sing  in  opera,  Adelina 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  47 

Patti  was  paid  one  hundred  dollars  for  each,  performance. 
Those,  at  least,  were  the  terms  agreed  upon  between  Salvatore 
Patti  on  the  one  hand  and  Messrs.  Ullmann  and  Strakosch  on 
the  other.  But  between  father  and  son-in-law  there  already 
existed  a  contract,  to  extend  over  five  years,  by  which  the 
latter  secured  the  girl's  services  at  a  much  lower  rate  and  thus 
insured  himself  a  handsome  margin  of  profit  on  her  engage- 
ments. 

If  we  are  to  believe  his  own  statement,  he  would  have  had 
to  pay  her  only  two  thousand  francs  a  month  for  the  first 
year,  three  thousand  for  the  second,  four  thousand  francs 
for  the  third,  and  five  thousand  francs  for  the  fourth  and 
fifth.  But  immediately  after  the  debut  this  contract  was 
annulled  and  replaced  by  another,  which  remained  in  force 
as  long  as  Adelina  sang  under  Strakosch 's  management.  In 
virtue  of  the  new  agreement  they  simply  divided  all  profits 
after  a  liberal  deduction  for  general  expenses ;  which  made  it, 
as  he  truly  adds,  "much  more  like  a  partnership  than  an 
exploitation."  x 

Let  us  return,  however,  to  the  preparations  for  the  great 
event.  They  involved  ceaseless  excitement  and  unremitting 
hard  work.  Imagine  the  effect  upon  an  impressionable  and 
impulsive  maiden  of  sixteen,  of  being  within  measurable  dis- 
tance of  realizing  her  long-cherished  ambition  and  blossoming 
into  a  real  prima  donna  !  No  wonder  she  could  ' '  hardly  sleep 
at  nights."  To  superintend  the  making  of  the  three  cos- 
tumes for  the  part  of  Lucia  was  far  more  exciting  to  her  than 
would  have  been  the  preparation  of  a  bridal  trousseau.  Then, 
moreover,  every  day  there  was  the  lesson  with  Muzio. 

At  length  everything  was  ready.  A  stage  rehearsal  with 
pianoforte  was  notified.  Only  people  connected  with  the 
opera  house  and  one  or  two  intimate  friends  were  allowed  to 

i"Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  p.  17. 


4S  THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI 

be  present.     The  whole  company  was  pleased,  and  none  more 
so  than  the  Edgar  do,  the  popular  tenor  Brignoli.1 

In  due  course  came  the  i'nll  rehearsal  with  orchestra.  It 
was  felt  desirable  that  this  should  be  regarded  as  something 
like  a  test  of  the  young  singer's  capacity  for  satisfying  an 
operatic  audience.  Accordingly,  hundreds  of  invitations  were 
issued,  and  the  Academy  of  Music  was  half  filled  by  a  curious 
and  expectant  gathering.  Several  well-known  musicians  and 
habitues  were  present.  We  are  told  that  the  fascinating 
debutante  made  a  genuine  sensation.  Still,  outside  the  opera 
house  no  very  notable  degree  of  interest  was  evinced.  There 
was  nothing  in  the  nature  of  a  "rush"  at  the  doors  when  the 
night  arrived. 

That  night  was  the  24th  of  November,  1859. 

In  spite  of  the  fact  that  it  was  an  "off  night,"  few  of  the 
leading  subscribers  were  absent,  and  the  house  contained  a 
fairly  brilliant  audience.  To  some,  of  course,  the  new-comer 
had  from  her  childhood  been  a  familiar  figure  upon  the  con- 
cert platform.  They  had  already  admired  her  entrancing 
voice  and  wondered  at  her  precocious  vocal  talent.  For  them 
the  sole  question  was,  has  the  prodigy  gone  on  in  the  right  way 
and  ripened  into  a  grown  artist  ?  The  attitude  of  the  audience 
generally  bespoke  sympathetic  encouragement,  unmarked,  how- 
ever, by  any  artificial  display  of  warmth  or  the  persistent 
attentions  of  a  friendly  claque.  Such  spurious  devices  were 
never  farther  from  being  needed. 

The  story  of  that  night  of  surprise  and  enthusiasm  will 
best  be  narrated  in  this  volume  by  the  pens  of  those  who 
were   present.'-     The   critics   of  the   New   York   Herald   and 

i  Already  a  favorite  with  the  New  York  public,  who  admired  and 
applauded  him  for  many  years.  P.rifJiioli  aang  in  London  later  on  un- 
der .Mapleson's  management  at  Her  Majesty's;  but,  although  an  excel- 
lent Uanrico,  his  voice  was  then  beginning  to  show  serious  signs  of 
wear. 

-  See  Appendix  B. 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  49 

Tribune  showed  discrimination  in  their  praise,  but  they  were 
obviously  not  less  amazed  at  the  extraordinary  powers  revealed 
by  "Miss  Patti"  than  the  audience  whose  unbounded  delight 
and  frantic  applause  they  faithfully  chronicled.  They  were 
face  to  face  with  a  phenomenon  that  was  entirely  new. 
Fortunately,  their  experience  of  Italian  opera  in  all  its  man- 
ifestations— from  the  first  visit  of  the  Garcia  family  to  New 
York  thirty-four  years  before — enabled  them  to  appreciate 
the  marvel  that  had  arisen  among  them. 

One  eye-witness,  signing  himself  "S.  H.,"  thus  described  the 
event  in  the  Musical  Courier: 

The  house  was  crowded  to  excess.  Miss  Patti's  friends  and  ad- 
mirers, who  were  very  numerous  at  that  time  already,  were  of  course 
all  present  and  full  of  hope;  but  great  as  their  expectations  were, 
they  were  far  surpassed.  She  took  the  house  by  storm ;  she  not  only 
sang  as  only  she  can  sing,  but  looked  lovely  and  acted  well.  Though 
a  little  timid  at  first,  she  displayed  her  great  dramatic  powers  in 
the  Mad  Scene.  She  was  simply  dressed  in  gray  silk  trimmed  with 
plaid,  looked  beautiful  and  modest;  Walter  Scott  himself  could  not 
have  imagined  a  more  lovely  or  fascinating  heroine  whom  he  de- 
scribed as  the  unhappy  Bride  of  Lammermoor.  The  day  after  the 
performance  I  called  to  see  her;  her  parlour  looked  like  a  flower 
garden,  she  had  received  so  many  floral  tributes  she  was  at  a  loss 
where  to  place  them. 

Two  points  stand  out  clearly  in  the  various  criticisms: 
first,  a  distinct  realization  of  the  fact  that  a  star  of  the 
highest  magnitude  had  appeared  upon  the  local  horizon — a 
star  worthy,  perhaps,  to  shine  side  by  side  with  those  bril- 
liant orbs  which  so  frequently  visited  America  in  quest  of 
gold ;  secondly,  the  instant  and  very  natural  determination 
to  claim  Adelina  Patti  as  a  "New  York  girl,"  not  on  the 
ground  of  birth  (they  knew  better  than  that),  but  by  right 
of  domicile,  rearing,  and  education.1 

1  Hence,  no  doubt,  the  impression  which  prevailed  for  many  year* 


50  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  Herald  writer,  in  pronouncing  the  debut  of  Miss  Patti 
"a  grand  success,"  and  predicting  a  caree*  for  her,  further 
hazarded  a  belief  that  the  managers  of  the  Academy  of  Music 
might  find  in  her  "their  long-looked-for  sensation."  He  was 
not  far  wrong.  The  rare  beauty  of  her  fresh,  girlish  tones, 
the  exquisite  grace  and  purity  of  her  cantilena,  the  as- 
tounding ease  and  sureness  of  her  vocalization,  the  unaffected 
charm  and  intelligence  of  her  acting,  the  interest  that  her 
natural  genius  for  the  stage  imparted  to  this  first  essay  in 
a  terribly  hackneyed  role — all  these  qualities  combined  to 
spur  an  impressionable  public  to  spontaneous  and  over- 
whelming enthusiasm. 

Messrs.  Ullmann  and  Strakosch  had  found  their  long-looked- 
for  sensation  indeed !  During  the  whole  of  the  remainder  of 
their  season  the  Academy  of  Music  was  crowded  from  floor 
to  ceiling  every  night  the  youthful  prima  donna  appeared. 

Soon,  of  course,  she  sang  in  other  operas.  And  what  a  list 
of  them  for  a  girl  in  her  first  season  and  as  yet  barely  seven- 
teen years  old!  After  "Lucia"  came  "La  Sonnambula"; 
next  "II  Barbiere  cli  Siviglia"  and  "I  Puritani,"  for  which, 
by  the  way,  she  was  "coached"  by  another  of  the  conductors, 
Signor  Manzocchi.  Altogether,  it  is  recorded,  she  appeared 
during  this  memorable  initial  season  in  no  fewer  than  fourteen 
operas!  Those  not  yet  named  comprised  "Don  Pasquale," 
"L'Elisir  d'Amore,"  "Martha,"  "Don  Giovanni,"  "La 
Traviata"  (a  child  Violetta!)  "II  Trovatore"  (a  dramatic 
soprano  part),  "Rigoletto,"  "Ernani";  "Linda  di  Cha- 
mouni,"  and,  perhaps  strangest  of  all,  "Mose  in  Egitto." 

Such  a  monumental  achievement  for  a  beginner  was  never 
known  before  or  since.  What  an  exhibition  of  genius!  what 
determination  to  conquer  all  obstacles — physical,  musical,  and 

that  Mme.  Patti  was  actually  an  American.  This  impression  her  love 
for  and  gratitude  to  that  country  did  not,  during  the  early  part  of  her 
career,  make  her  anxious  to  remove.     In  after  years  it  was  different. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  51 

histrionic  alike!  Naturally,  some  of  these  parts  she  had 
already  studied;  most  she  had  heard  sung;  but  there  were 
others  that  she  had  neither  studied  nor  heard.  In  any  case, 
the  amount  of  labor  involved  in  the  preparation  of  so  many 
operas — the  coaching  at  home  and  the  rehearsals  at  the  the- 
atre, while  appearing  in  public  twice  and  occasionally  three 
times  a  week — must  have  been  extremely  heavy. 

But  apparently  the  effort  did  not  impose  an  undue  strain 
upon  this  remarkable  girl.  For  even  then,  as  in  her  maturer 
years,  she  demonstrated  the  possession,  in  a  comparatively 
petite,  delicate  frame,  of  a  musical  organization  and  a  vocal 
mechanism  so  exquisitely  balanced  that,  where  singing  was 
in  question,  she  never  knew  the  meaning  of  the  word  fatigue. 


CHAPTER  V 

Waiting  for  the  "Boom" — Operatic  Tours  in  the  United  States  (1860- 
61) — Season  at  New  Orleans — A  Yalentina  and  a  Leonora  at  Eight- 
een— Avoiding  Mexico  and  Trying  Cuba — Aspirations  toward  Eng- 
land— Conditions  Then  Existing  in  London — Patti  Engaged  by  Ma- 
pleson  for  E.  T.  Smith — Arrival  and  Disappointments — How  Covent 
Garden  Became  Substituted  for  Her  Majesty's  Theatre — The  Luck  of 
Frederick  Gye — How  He  Advertised  His  Trouvaille 

IN  the  western  hemisphere  the  fame  of  the  new  operatic 
star  spread  quickly.  It  took  much  longer  to  traverse  the 
Atlantic.  In  that  respect  conditions  ruled  almost  the  same 
half  a  century  ago  as  now.  The  advent  of  a  great  European 
singer  would  quickly  become  known  and  talked  about  in  the 
United  States;  she  might  promptly  cross  the  ocean,  and, 
aided  by  an  adequate  "boom,"  begin  forthwith  to  gather  in 
the  dollars.  On  the  other  hand,  a  prima  donna  starting  upon 
her  career  in  America  needed  greater  patience.  Had  she 
been  a  second  Jenny  Land,  Europe  would  at  that  time  have 
evinced  no  curiosity  on  the  strength  of  an  American  reputa- 
tion. 

Salvatore  Patti  and  Maurice  Strakosch  were  well  aware  of 
tli  is.  Confident  now  that  they  had  become  possessed  of  a 
"gold-mine"  on  a  modest  scale,  they  were  content  to  wait. 
They  made  up  their  minds,  therefore,  to  refrain  from  any 
attempt  to  attract  offers  from  European  impresarios  until 
"little  Lina,"  as  Maurice  was  wont  to  call  her,  had  worked 
for  at  least  another  year  on  American  soil.  So  wait  they  did, 
with  the  results  that  fully  justified  their  policy.  For.  even 
thus,  the  progress  of  the  Patti  triumph  in  an  opposite  direc- 
tion to  that  of  the  ordinary  solar  orbit — namely,  from  west 

52 


THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI  53 

i 

to  east,  instead  of  from  east  to  west — furnished  quite  a  new 
and  amazing  record. 

There  was  plenty  of  inducement,  in  a  financial  sense,  to 
remain  for  a  while  in  America.  Long  before  the  season  of 
1859-60  at  the  Academy  of  Music  had  reached  its  close, 
Strakosch  had  been  inundated  with  offers  of  engagement, 
some  of  them  of  the  most  flattering  nature,  from  all  parts 
of  the  Union ;  likewise  from  Mexico,  Cuba,  and  the  West  In- 
dies, and  even  from  South  America.  But  in  the  choice  of 
these  offers  an  important  consideration  had  to  be  borne  in 
mind ;  it  was  necessary  that  the  strength  of  the  young  girl 
should  not,  through  constant  singing,  be  put  to  too  severe  a 
test.     And  here,  again,  a  wise  policy  was  adopted. 

For  after  New  York,  in  the  spring  of  1860,  they  began  a 
tour  of  the  Eastern  States  so  as  not  to  entail  the  fatigue  of 
long  journeys  between  the  various  cities.  The  success  achieved 
everywhere  was  the  same.  In  Philadelphia,  Boston,  Balti- 
more, and  other  large  towns  the  rush  to  hear  "Miss  Patti" 
was  tremendous;  and  in  each  instance  the  New  York  verdict 
was  overwhelmingly  confirmed.  Philadelphia  was  particu- 
larly enthusiastic.  One  of  its  journals  contributed  to  the 
vast  army  of  provincial  notices  that  appeared  during  the  tour 
an  example  worthy  of  publication.1 

After  a  judicious  rest  during  the  hottest  summer  weeks, 
the  tour  was  resumed.  For  Adelina  now  positively  craved 
for  the  excitement  of  appearing  in  public ;  and,  besides,  it  was 
very  pleasant  to  be  able  to  count  on  full  houses,  thunders 
of  applause,  and  a  constant  flow  of  dollars  into  the  family 
exchequer.  The  next  important  move,  however,  took  them 
farther  afield. 

In  the  winter  of  1860-61  we  find  the  now-accustomed  trio — 
father,   daughter,   and   brother-in-law — in   the  city   of   New 

i  See  Appendix  C- 


54  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Orleans,  whose  Southern  community,  with  its  large  inter- 
mixture of  French  blood,  were  keen  lovers  and  supporters  of 
opera.  There  they  made  a  stay  of  three  months.  Adelina 
appeared  in  most  of  the  parts  that  she  had  previously  sung, 
creating  a  sensation  the  like  of  which  had  never  been  experi- 
enced in  that  emotional  city ;  she  also  added  to  her  repertoire 
one  of  her  most  famous  roles — that  of  Dinorah. 

In  New  Orleans,  too,  she  essayed  a  character  apparently  so 
far  beyond  the  physical  capacity  of  a  girl  not  yet  eighteen 
that  one  may  well  wonder  how  her  advisers  could  have  allowed 
her  to  undertake  it.  It  was  nothing  less  than  the  role  of 
Valentino,  in  "Les  Huguenots."  Imagine  such  a  thing!  One 
of  the  heaviest  dramatic  parts  in  the  whole  range  of  opera — 
as  heavy,  nearly,  as  the  Wagnerian  type  of  heroine  then 
coming  into  existence — sung  by  a  girl  who  had  been  only  a 
year  or  so  on  the  stage!  How  came  she  to  be  permitted  to 
burden  her  youthful  voice  and  fragile  physique  with  such  a 
tremendous  task?  From  every  point  of  view,  it  seems  inex- 
cusable, inexplicable! 

That  it  did  not  overtax  her  resources  and  do  irreparable 
damage  stands  to  no  one's  credit  but  her  own,  or  rather  to 
that  rare  instinct  which  nature  had  conferred  upon  her  for 
balancing  big  weights  with  such  perfect  poise  that  they  could 
neither  crush  her  nor  leave  their  mark  behind.  Still,  the 
experience  may  have  taught  a  lesson ;  for,  even  after  she  had 
reached  "years  of  discretion,"  Adelina  Patti  seldom  attacked 
the  part  of  Valentino..  She  did  so  at  Covent  Garden  later, 
as  a  tour  de  force  only  to  bo  attempted  now  and  then,  perhaps 
on  the  occasion  of  her  "annual  benefit" ;  but  that  was  all. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  an  undeniable  fact  that,  whenever  she 
stepped  out  of  her  true  line  and  sang  an  exacting  dramatic 
role,  her  art  was  so  satisfying  that  the  effort  never  left  a 
sense  of  insufficiency  on  either  the  vocal  or  the  histrionic 
side.     Indeed,  there  were  times  when  these  very  imperson- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  55 

ations  aroused  wilder  enthusiasm  than  those  to  which  she  was 
more  completely  suited.  At  New  Orleans  they  took  their 
place  in  the  round  of  characters  wherein  she  was  delighting 
a  public  agape  with  amazement  not  unmingled  with  pride. 
So  much  may,  at  any  rate,  be  gathered  from  the  following 
extract  from  the  local  paper  published  in  February,  1861 : 

It  is  now  three  months  since  Adelina  Patti  came  amongst  us.  She 
has  appeared  in  "Lucia,"  "Martha,"  "Barbiere,"  "II  Trovatore," 
"Kigoletto,"  "The  Huguenots"  (as  Yalentina),  and  in  the  "Pardon 
de  Ploermel"  (Dinorah).  In  each  of  these  operas  a  new  triumph 
attended  her.  Adelina  Patti  may  well  be  proud  to  have  produced 
such  a  great  sensation  here,  and  to  have  crowded  our  opera  house 
for  three  months  every  night  she  has  appeared;  and  when  she  ap- 
pears in  London  and  Paris,  and  takes  possession  of  the  place  left 
vacant  by  Sontag  and  Bosio,  whose  legitimate  successor  she  now  is, 
New  Orleans  will  have  the  satisfaction  of  having  first  [sic]  recog- 
nized and  appreciated  the  young  artist.  Miss  Patti  is,  in  our  opin- 
ion, the  most  extraordinary  artist  on  the  operatic  stage.  She  unites 
to  a  voice  clear,  powerful,  always  in  tune,  capable  of  expressing 
every  sentiment  of  the  soul  and  of  executing  the  most  difficult  and 
intricate  passages  with  the  utmost  ease,  a  chastity  of  style,  a  grace 
of  delivery,  and  musical  accentuation  perfectly  marvelous. 

Thus  do  we  find  New  Orleans  laying  the  flattering  unction 
to  its  soul  that  it  "discovered"  Patti.  Seemingly  her  suc- 
cesses at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  elsewhere  did 
not  count.  Well,  this  was  only  one  manifestation  of  the 
struggle  that  was  now  going  on  in  the  United  States  for 
the  honor  of  establishing  a  direct  claim  upon  the  new  star 
and  her  services.  But  her  manager  was  anxious  that  she 
should  proceed  to  Mexico;  indeed,  she  was  practically  under 
engagement  to  sing  there.  He  has  related  how  it  came  about 
that  this  was  prevented. 

Almost  on  the  eve  of  her  departure  from  New  Orleans, 
Adelina  met  at  the  St.  Louis  Hotel  (where  they  were  staying) 


56  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

two  young  girls  who  told  her  of  some  terrible  experiences 
they  had  recently  encountered  in  Mexico.  They  had  been 
attacked  by  brigands,  robbed  of  all  their  belongings,  and 
otherwise  ill-treated.  Indeed,  they  had  escaped  with  their 
lives  and  not  much  more. 

This  was  quite  enough  for  Adelina.  She  refused  point- 
blank  to  venture  a  yard  into  the  neighboring  territory — then, 
as  now,  tempting  but  troubled.  So  the  trip  had  to  be  aban- 
doned. But  Mexico's  loss  proved  to  be  Cuba's  gain.  They 
went  instead  to  Havana,  where  the  youthful  prima  donna 
had  sung  at  concerts  as  a  child  when  on  her  tour  with 
Gottschalk.  Her  present  short  but  lucrative  engagement  at 
the  opera  house  there  was  to  be  the  preliminary  to  the  most 
important  step  of  her  career — her  first  visit  to  Europe. 

For  some  time  Maurice  Strakosch  had  been  turning  longing 
eyes  toward  England.  The  test  made  so  far  in  America  had 
proved  successful  beyond  his  wildest  dreams.  In  twelve 
months  they  had  made  a  great  deal  of  money  and  demonstrated 
beyond  dispute  that  Adelina  Patti  was  a  genius  hors  ligne. 
Would  the  colder  and  more  critical  public  of  London  place  a 
similar  estimate  upon  her  powers?  As  to  that,  the  younger 
she  was  the  more  phenomenal  must  her  genius  appear. 
Surely.  1  ben,  the  moment  was  propitious. 

Truth  to  tell,  the  operatic  situation  in  London  at  this  par- 
ticular epoch  was  far  more  favorable  to  the  execution  of  the 
Strakosch  plan  than  he  could  possibly  have  imagined.  In 
order  to  understand  this  and  make  subsequent  events  clear,  it 
will  be  necessary  to  describe  in  some  detail  how  matters 
actually  stood. 

In  1860  the  long  and  bitter  rivalry  between  the  two  opera 
houses,  Covent  Garden  and  Her  Majesty's,  had  reached  a  cli- 
max. The  sudden  and  unexpected  retirement  of  Jenny  Lind 
had  plunged  Mr.  Benjamin  Lumley,  director  of  Her  Majesty's 


00 


£ 


o 

2 


CO 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  57 

Theatre,  into  a  series  of  difficulties  from  which  the  subsequent 
successes  of  Piccolomini,  Tietjens,  Alboni,  and  Giuglini  had 
failed  to  rescue  him.  His  downfall  was  now  an  accomplished 
fact.  On  the  other  hand,  at  Covent  Garden  the  Royal  Italian 
Opera,  under  the  direction  of  Mr.  Frederick  Gye,  was  rejoicing 
in  a  strong  company  of  artists  and  had  the  cream  of  London 
society  at  its  back. 

Nevertheless,  arrangements  were  in  progress  for  Her 
Majesty's  to  reopen  for  the  season  of  1861  under  the  man- 
agement of  a  well  known  entrepreneur,  Mr.  Edward  Tyrrel 
Smith,  who  was  to  inaugurate  therewith  his  first  operatic 
campaign.  His  agent  (or  business  manager,  as  we  should  now 
say)  was  the  versatile  James  Henry  Mapleson.  His  princi- 
pal stars  were  to  be  Mario  and  Grisi,  who  had  been  persuaded 
to  desert  Mr.  Gye  in  order  to  come  under  the  new  banner. 
The  expectation  of  a  monopoly  for  Covent  Garden  seemed 
once  more  doomed  to  disappointment.  There  was  every  pros- 
pect of  another  stiff  fight  between  the  two  houses. 

At  this  critical  moment,  the  tale  of  an  extraordinary  series 
of  successes  achieved  in  America  by  a  young  soprano  named 
Adelina  Patti  began  to  arouse  nascent  attention  in  London 
operatic  circles.  The  musical  papers  had  for  some  time  been 
supplied  (we  may  guess  by  whom)  with  cuttings  from  the 
columns  of  the  American  press;  and  these  reports,  if  they 
had  failed  greatly  to  interest  the  British  public,  had  not 
escaped  the  notice  of  E.  T.  Smith's  agent.  In  short,  Mapleson 
had  already  opened  negotiations  with  Maurice  Strakosch,  and 
by  the  end  of  the  month  of  March  he  had,  on  his  principal's 
behalf,  entered  into  a  contract  whereby  Mile.  Patti  "under- 
took to  sing  four  nights  on  approval,  when,  in  case  of  success, 
she  was  to  have  a  salary  of  £40  a  week. ' ' x 

i  This  is  the  amount  mentioned  by  Mr.  Mapleson  in  his  "Memoirs" 
(London,  1888)  ;  but  Strakosch,  in  his  rather  earlier  "Souvenirs,"  states 
that  the  prima  donna's  salary  was  to  be  10,000  francs  (£400)  a  month. 
The  smaller  figure  is  probably  correct. 


58  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

But  the  contract  was  not  destined  to  be  carried  out.  It 
had  been  signed  by  botli  parties  and  copies  exchanged  through 
the  post.  Strakosch  lost  no  time  in  bringing  the  performances 
at  Havana  to  a  conclusion.  By  the  end  of  March  he  was 
starting  with  his  sister-in-law  and  her  father  on  the  voyage 
to  England.  But,  while  they  were  on  the  ocean,  things  hap- 
pened that  were  to  alter  the  course  of  events  entirely;  and, 
as  the  days  of  wireless  telegraphy  had  not  yet  arrived, — 
Atlantic  crossings  still  occupied  from  twelve  to  fifteen  days. — 
1  he  travellers  learned  nothing  until  after  they  had  landed  in 
London. 

What  had  taken  place  was  this:  E.  T.  Smith,  who  was  to 
have  been  Adelina  Patti's  first  English  impresario,  had  got 
into  financial  difficulties.  Not  satisfied  with  aspiring  to  the 
direction  of  Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  he  had  entered  into  a 
number  of  outside  speculations,  some  of  which  had  turned 
out  badly  and  involved  him  in  serious  loss.  As  the  date 
for  the  opening  of  the  season  of  1861  gradually  drew  nearer, 
it  became  increasingly  difficult  to  discover  the  whereabouts 
of  E.  T.  Smith.  Even  his  own  agent,  James  Mapleson, — 
usually  an  astute  and  active  individual, — found  it  harder  and 
harder  to  lay  hands  on  him. 

Yet  his  operatic  venture  wore  at  this  time  an  extremely 
healthy  look.  In  fact,  it  promised  so  well  that  Frederick 
Gye,  his  powerful  opponent  at  Covent  Garden,  was  beginning 
to  suffer  considerable  perturbation  of  mind.  Then,  one  day, 
a  friend  brought  Mr.  Gye  information  concerning  Mr.  Smith's 
pecuniary  straits.  This  was  news  indeed.  Had  he  not  been 
the  most  calm  and  dignified  of  men.  Mr.  Gye  must  assuredly 
have  flung  his  "Lincoln  and  Bennett"  into  the  air.  Figur- 
atively, no  doubt,  he  did  so.  And  then  a  brilliant  thought 
struck  him;  why  not  buy  out  E.  T.  Smith? 

That  gentleman  may  have  been  lying  perdu.  Be  that  as 
it  may,  Frederick  Gye  promptly  found  means  for  communi- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  59 

eating  with  him.  Great  secrecy  was,  however,  observed  on 
both  sides;  so  much  so  that  it  remains  to  this  day  a  moot 
question  which  of  the  two  managers  visited  the  other,  or 
whether  a  personal  meeting  between  them  actually  took  place 
at  all.  "Whatever  the  nature  of  the  negotiations,  a  bargain 
was  quickly  struck,  and  one  fine  morning  the  news  leaked 
out  that  there  was  to  be  no  opera  season  at  Her  Majesty's. 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  Mr.  Gye  had  paid  E.  T.  Smith  a  cash 
sum  of  £4000,  in  consideration  of  which  he  agreed  to  abandon 
his  enterprise. 

In  such  wise  was  the  threatened  competition  averted;  but 
at  the  cost  of  disappointment,  worry,  and  loss  for  every  one 
concerned — except  Mr.  Gye  and  Mr.  Smith.  The  latter 's 
contracts  became,  of  course,  worthless.  Mario  and  Grisi  fell 
between  the  two  stools.  They  were  too  valuable,  though,  to 
remain  long  "on  the  ground."  Mr.  Gye  soon  made  up  his 
quarrel  with  them,  and  they  duly  restored  their  allegiance 
to  Covent  Garden,  where,  by  the  way,  Grisi  was  that  year 
(1861)  to  bid  farewell  to  the  British  public. 

James  Henry  Mapleson's  road  to  operatic  management  on 
his  own  account  was  no  doubt  greatly  facilitated  by  the 
collapse  of  E.  T.  Smith.  At  the  same  time,  that  collapse 
robbed  him,  much  to  his  subsequent  regret,  of  something  that 
would  have  brought  him  lasting  credit  and  incalculable  profit 
— namely,  the  privilege  of  introducing  Adelina  Patti  to  the 
operatic  boards  and  the  public  of  the  British  metropolis. 

Such,  then,  was  the  situation  in  London  early  in  April, 
1861,  when  the  expectant  trio  landed  at  Liverpool,  took  train 
to  Euston,  and  installed  themselves  at  the  Arundel  Hotel, 
on  what  is  now  the  Thames  Embankment,  at  the  foot  of 
Norfolk  Street,  Strand.  It  took  Maurice  Strakosch  less  than 
half  an  hour  to  acquaint  himself  with  the  prevailing  state  of 
affairs.     He  perceived  that  his  contract  with  Mapleson  was 


CO  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

-worth  so  much  waste  paper,  and  that  he  would  never  get  a 
penny  of  compensation  from  E.  T.  Smith.  His  tactics  under 
these  circumstances  were  masterly.  First  of  all,  he  arranged 
an  interview  with  Mr.  Mapleson,  which  that  gentleman  has 
thus  described : ] 

They  wished  to  know  when  Mr.  Smith's  season  was  likely  to  be- 
gin. I  could  give  them  no  information  beyond  the  current  report, 
which  they  had  already  heard  themselves.  The  little  lady,  who  was 
then  seated  on  a  sofa  at  the  Arundel  Hotel,  suggested  that  I  should 
try  the  speculation  myself,  as  she  felt  sure  she  would  draw  money. 
I  thereupon  asked  her  to  let  me  hear  her,  that  I  might  judge  as 
to  the  quality  of  her  voice,  to  which  she  responded  by  singing  "Home, 
sweet  home."  I  saw  that  I  had  secured  a  diamond  of  the  first 
water,  and  immediately  set  about  endeavouring  to  get  Her  Majesty's 
Theatre.  But  this  was  a  hopeless  business,  as  Smith,  who  still  held 
the  lease,  was  nowhere  to  be  found. 

Meanwhile  Strakosch  had  not  the  least  intention  of  waiting 
until  Mapleson  found  a  theatre  or  of  going  to  law  with  him. 
lie  went  straight  to  Frederick  Gye  and  asked  him  whether  he 
would  take  up  the  cancelled  contract.  At  first  the  autocrat 
of  Covent  Garden  answered  with  a  curt  refusal.  Who  was 
this  Mile.  Adelina  Patti?  He  had  never  heard  of  her;  or, 
if  he  had,  an  American  reputation  meant  nothing  to  him. 
Strakosch,  however,  persisted  with  his  arguments,  and  begged 
Mr.  Gye  to  at  least  grant  her  an  audition.  To  this  he  ulti- 
mately consented. 

The  result  was  satisfactory.  The  impresario  carefully  con- 
cealed his  admiration  for  the  young  girl's  singing,  and  paid 
Strakosch  an  advance  of  £50,  for  which  the  latter  gave  him 
a  receipt.  A  few  days  later,  Mapleson,  having  secured  the 
Lyceum  Theatre  for  his  season,  called  at  the  Arundel  Hotel 
"to  inform  Miss  Patti  and  Mr.  Strakosch  of  my  good  luck. 

1  "Mapleson  Memoirs,"'  Vol.  I,  p.  33. 


THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI  61 

They  did  not  seem  overjoyed,  or  in  any  way  to  participate 
in  my  exuberant  delight."  The  explanation,  as  given  by  the 
disappointed  Mapleson,  is  rather  curious.     He  says: 

Maurice  Strakoseh  told  me  that,  as  their  last  £5  note  had  been 
spent,  he  had  been  obliged  to  borrow  £50  of  Mr.  Gye,  which  intelli- 
gence at  once  reduced  my  height  by  about  two  inches;  and  after 
a  deal  of  difficulty  I  ascertained  that  he  had  signed  a  receipt  for 
the  said  loan  in  a  form  which  really  constituted  an  engagement  for 
the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  Covent  Garden.  In  short,  I  found  myself 
manager  of  the  Lyceum  Theatre,  with  an  expensive  company,  and 
with  Mile.  Patti  opposed  to  me  in  the  immediate  vicinity  at  Covent 
Garden.1 

Thus  the  Strakoseh  ruse  for  getting  rid  of  Mapleson  had 
succeeded  to  perfection. 

The  new  contract  with  Mr.  Gye  was,  however,  a  rather  one- 
sided document.  By  its  terms  he  ran  no  risk  whatever  and 
stood  to  make  a  great  deal  of  money.  He  was  to  allow  Mile. 
Patti  three  trial  performances,  for  which  no  payment  was  to 
be  made.  In  the  event  of  failure  at  any  of  these,  he  was  at 
liberty  to  decline  to  ratify  the  engagement.  If  the  new- 
comer met  with  success,  it  was  agreed  that  she  should  be 
engaged  for  five  years,  at  the  rate  of  £150  a  month  for  the 
first  year,  £200  for  the  second,  £250  for  the  third,  £300  for 
the  fourth,  and  £400  for  the  fifth.  And  it  was  further  stip- 
ulated that  she  should  sing  twice  a  week.  At  this  rate  her 
average  fee  for  the  five  years  worked  out  at  the  huge  sum 
of  £32  10s.  for  each  performance ! 

Still,  no  one  has  a  right  to  blame  Mr.  Gye  for  making  the 
best  terms  he  could.  Who  was  to  foresee  that  in  less  than 
six  weeks  from  the  signing  of  that  contract  the  merry,  dark- 
eyed  little  soprano  from  the  United  States  would  be  the 
operatic  idol  of  the  British  public,  creating  a  furore  that 

i  "Mapleson  Memoirs,"  Vol.  I,  p.  36. 


62  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

was  to  cast  even  the  famous  "Jenny  Lind  fever"  into  the 
shade? 

Opera  managers  are  essentially  business  men,  and,  fol- 
lowing the  commercial  rule,  so  long  as  they  are  driving  their 
bargain  they  will  appraise  at  the  lowest  possible  figure  the 
value  of  an  artist's  services,  more  particularly  when  that 
artist  is  untried  or  practically  unknown.  Once  the  bird  is 
caught,  however,  they  proceed  to  the  opposite  extreme  and 
do  everything  in  their  power  to  heighten  the  value  of  their 
trouvailh  in  the  estimation  of  subscribers,  newspaper  critics, 
and  the  public  generally.  So,  in  his  quiet  way.  the  wily  Mr. 
Gye  began  to  talk  to  people  about  Adelina  Patti ;  yet  without 
overdoing  it,  for  he  was  much  too  clever  a  diplomatist  to 
arouse  expectations  to  such  a  height  that  disappointment  might 
ensue. 

In  those  days  the  vogue  of  the  modern  press-agent  had 
hardly  begun.  Even  in  America  his  prototypes  of  the  circus 
and  the  theatre  had  only  just  started  their  Barnum-like 
methods  of  advertising  talent  in  advance.  "Concert  Direc- 
tions," with  their  neat  but  expensive  systems  of  scientific 
puffing,  were  as  yet  non-existent.  Musicians  did  not  fill 
whole  columns  of  the  daily  paper  with  press  quotations  that 
cost  a  half  a  crown  a  line.  The  sandwich-man — that  curious 
human  vehicle  for  the  display  of  the  moving  poster  and 
bill-board — had  still  to  emerge  from  his  chrysalis  state. 
Hoardings  in  the  streets,  on  the  railways,  in  the  "tubes," 
were  not  yet  available  for  huge  pictures  of  a  certain  vivacious 
face  that  was  one  day  to  greel  the  world  with  a  familiar  query 
concerning  the  matutinal  use  of  a  particular  kind  of  soap. 

The  morning  journals  in  the  early  sixties  scorned  the  "puff 
preliminary."  Nay,  they  would  sometimes  refuse  even  to 
insert  the  bare  announcement  in  their  news  columns  that  an 
unknown  artist  was  about  to  appear  upon  the  scene.     The 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  63 

weeklies  were  scarcely  more  obliging.  There  remained  the 
musical  papers.  Of  these  the  Musical  World  seems  to  have 
been  best  acquainted  with  the  position  earned  in  America 
by  Mile.  Patti  (the  prefix  "Miss"  now  disappears  for  good) 
and  most  inclined  to  publish  paragraphs  about  her.  Some 
that  were  quoted  in  the  issue  for  May  11,  1861,  received  the 
following  editorial  comment : 

These  extracts  must,  doubtless,  excite  curiosity  in  no  ordinary 
degree.  Even  allowing  that  one  half  of  what  the  writers  say  be 
true,  it  makes  out  Mile.  Patti  to  be  a  singularly  endowed  and  accom- 
plished artist.  .  .  . 

Shortly  after  writing  the  above,  we  learned  that  Mile.  Adelina 
Patti  had  been  engaged  by  the  director  of  the  Royal  Italian  Opera, 
and  that  she  was  to  make  her  first  appearance  on  Tuesday  in  "La 
Sonnambula."  The  debut  of  a  prima  donna  is  always  an  interest- 
ing event,  particularly  when  the  character  to  be  assumed  is  one 
with  which  the  memory  of  so  many  renowned  artists  is  associated; 
and  therefore  our  preliminary  notes  may  have  some  value.  The 
interest  becomes  deeper  when  the  debutante  is  so  highly  recom- 
mended, and  expectation  is  elevated  in  proportion.  "Shall  we  hear 
and  see  a  Malibran,  a  Persiani,  a  Lind,  a  Bosiof"  This  question  we 
shall  be  enabled  to  resolve  satisfactorily  next  week.  In  the  mean- 
while, we  wish  every  success  to  the  youthful  and  much  be-praised 
cantatrice,  and  trust  that  the  result  of  Tuesday's  performance  may 
realize  the  most  sanguine  anticipations  of  her  friends  on  the  other 
side  of  the  Atlantic. 

In  our  later  days  of  advance-heraldry,  it  is  worth  noting 
that  there  was  a  total  absence  of  noisy  trumpeting  to  impart 
fictitious  eclat  to  what  proved  to  be  the  most  brilliantly  suc- 
cessful operatic  debut  of  the  nineteenth  century.  Beyond 
the  press  extracts  referred  to-  and  some  gossip  in  musical 
circles,  there  was  absolutely  nothing. 

Signor  Arditi  makes  the  point  clear  in  his  "Reminiscences." 
He  observes,  apropos  of  this  event : 


64  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  reports  which  had  reached  the  English  public  about  her  suc- 
cesses  in  America  were  looked  upon  as  exaggerated  and  extravagant, 
and  I  really  believe  that,  on  the  occasion  on  which  she  laid  the 
foundation  of  the  pedestal  upon  which  she  has  reigned  ever  since, 
there  were  not  twenty  people  in  the  house  who  knew  that  Adelina 
Patti  was  a  singer  of  more  than  ordinary  merit. 

I,  however,  had  heard  her  sing  in  America,  and  had  witnessed 
the  scenes  of  extraordinary  triumph  in  which  her  vocal  efforts  had 
been  received,  cheered,  and  clamoured  for ;  I  had  seen  the  child  grow 
up  into  a  beautiful  girl;  I  had  noted  the  improvements  which  her 
voice  had  undergone,  and  the  rich  and  rapid  development  of  her 
faultless  register  that  was  about  to  come  upon  the  British  public 
as  a  revelation.  ...  A  very  few  people  who  had  been  present  at 
the  hurried  and  shortened  rehearsals  knew  what  was  to  follow;  but 
nothing  was  known  of  Patti's  antecedents,  her  name  having  ap- 
peared only  four  days  in  advance  of  her  debut,  and  without  a  single 
remark  in  the  advertisements. 

Still,  as  has  been  said,  Mr.  Gye  took  care  to  let  his  friends 
know  that  he  thought  he  had  made  a  valuable  discovery.  On 
the  fateful  morning  itself  he  was  visited  by  one  of  his  devoted 
supporters,  the  popular  pianist  William  Kuhe,1  who  was 
also  destined  to  become  one  of  Adelina  Patti's  staunchest 
friends.  When  Mr.  Gye  bade  him.  good-bye,  he  said:  "Come 
to  Covent  Garden  to-night  and  hear  '  Sonnambula. '  A  little 
girl  is  to  sing  Amina,  and  I  shall  not  be  surprised  if  she  makes 
a  big  hit." 

That  day  was  the  14th  of  May,  1861. 

i  "My  Musical  Recollections,"  by  William  Kuhe.     London,  1896. 


CHAPTER  VI 

An  Historical  Coincidence — The  Mantle  of  "La  Diva" — Grisi  and  Patti 
(1834  and  1861) — Operatic  Criticism  in  the  Sixties — The  Youthful 
Singer's  New  Artistic  Growth — Her  Triumphant  Debut  at  Covent 
Garden — "La  Sonnambula"  on  the  first  Patti  Night — The  Story  of  a 
Memorable  Event — Critics  and  Public  Amazed — The  Reign  of  Patti 
Begun — Its  Significance — Her  Personality  and  Genius 

BEFORE  coming  to  the  actual  incidents  of  the  London  de- 
but, it  will  be  worth  while  to  dwell  for  a  moment  upon  an 
oft-noted  coincidence,  viz. :  that  the  opera  season  of  1861,  made 
memorable  through  the  advent  in  Europe  of  Adelina  Patti, 
also  witnessed  the  retirement  of  Giulia  Grisi,  the  great  Italian 
singer,  after  her  career  of  twenty-seven  years  upon  the  Covent 
Garden  boards.  It  was  Grisi  who,  ever  since  the  premature 
departure  of  Jenny  Lind  from  the  operatic  stage  (1849),  had 
been  the  possessor  of  the  much-coveted  title  of  "La  Diva." 
And  the  question  "Who  will  succeed  to  it?"  was  already 
being  anxiously  asked. 

Little  did  the  cognoscenti  of  the  period  dream  that  it  would 
fall  to  a  comparatively  unknown  girl  of  eighteen !  They  were 
probably  ready  to  bestow  it  upon  the  gifted  Theresa  Tietjens, 
upon  whose  shoulders  the  mantle  of  Grisi  as  the  leading 
dramatic  soprano  of  her  time  seemed  naturally  destined  to 
descend.  The  mantle,  indeed,  did  so  descend ;  but  with  it  not 
the  exalted  title,  which  was  now  to  revert  to  a  singer  of  the 
lighter  roles  of  the  repertory.  The  fact  that  Tietjens  was 
not  at  Covent  Garden  had  no  bearing  upon  the  verdict. 
There  was,  however,  something  else  which  has  been  regarded 
as  curious,  namely,  a  certain  similarity  between  the  circum- 

65 


6C  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

stances  attending  the  debuts  of  Giulia  Grisi  and  Adelina 
Patti,  and  which  served  to  heighten  the  interest  of  the  coinci- 
dence above  alluded  to. 

Each  artist  came  upon  the  scene  just  when  her  predecessor 
in  public  favor  was  quitting  it ;  and  from  neither,  as  a  debu- 
tante, was  anything  extraordinary  expected.  A  contemporary 
writer  thus  described  Grisi 's  first  appearance  at  Covent  Gar- 
den in  1834: 

When  Grisi  made  her  debut  Malibran  was  astonishing  Europe; 
Pasta's  star  had  just  declined;  Sontag  had  not  long  withdrawn  into 
private  life;  the  triumph  of  Catalani  had  not  been  forgotten.  .  .  . 
There  was  a  poor  attendance  and  no  excitement.  The  first  appear- 
ance, however,  of  the  new  Ninetta  (in  "La  Gazza  Ladra")  created 
universal  interest.  At  that  time  Grisi  was  about  two-and-twenty : 
she  was  eminently  beautiful,  with  features  as  regular  as  if  hewn 
out  of  marble  by  Phidias  or  Praxiteles,  an  expression  as  various 
and  mutable  as  that  of  an  April  day.  As  she  advanced  to  the  foot- 
lights she  seized  on  every  eye,  on  every  heart.  Her  triumph  was 
to  a  considerable  extent  secured.  But  when  she  sang  that  transcend- 
ent burst  of  love  and  joy,  "Di  piaeer  mi  balza  il  cor,"  and  revealed 
a  voice  that  for  purity,  beauty,  and  tender  grace  has  never  been  sur- 
passed,— displaying,  moreover,  such  infinite  charm  in  her  singing, — 
the  effect  may  be  imagined.     The   audience  was  intoxicated,   and 

Giulia  Grisi  became  the  idol  of  the  day. 

# 

Beyond  this,  however,  the  resemblance  did  not  extend. 
Grisi  had  found  herself  confronted  with  the  opposition  of 
Malibran ;  a  little  later  Jenny  Lind  was  to  appear.  But  Patti 
had  no  such  rival  stars  to  contend  against.  Bosio  had  last 
appeared  here  in  1858,  the  season  in  which  Tietjens  first  sang 
in  London.  However,  the  latter  and  the  celebrated  French 
soprano,  Miolan-Carvalho,  stood — as  dramatic  rather  than  as 
light  or  florid  singers — in  a  different  category.  Rivals  in  the 
truer  sense,  such  as  Christine  Nilsson  and  Pauline  Lucca,  were 
near  at  hand,  but  they  did  not  arrive  until  Adelina  Patti 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  67 

had  had  ample  time  to  establish  herself  in  public  favor  as 
by  far  the  most  popular  and  gifted  cantatrice  of  her  epoch. 
It  was  rather  in  the  degree  that  she  awakened  still  vivid 
memories  of  the  great  women  who  had  preceded  her,  and 
challenged  comparison  with  their  powerful  traditions,  that 
she  had  most  to  overcome  before  attaining  the  goal  of  absolute 
sovereignty.  This  process,  as  we  shall  see,  was  not  achieved 
without  continued  study  and  hard  work.  It  was  compelled 
by  good  motives,  the  origin  of  which  is  also  worth  pointing 
out. 

Sixty  years  ago  there  existed  a  much  wider  disparity 
between  American  and  English  standards  of  operatic  criti- 
cism. The  New  York  critics  of  1860  had  pronounced  Adelina 
Patti  an  artist  hors  ligne  and  beyond  reproach.  That  ver- 
dict was  not  destined  to  be  literally  endorsed  in  London,  even 
in  the  face  of  the  most  brilliant  debut  on  record.  English 
critics  of  that  day  were  wont  to  judge  singers  from  a  far 
loftier  and  more  exacting  standpoint.  Since  the  period  (in 
the  nineties)  when  the  late  Maurice  Grau  was  assuming  the 
simultaneous  direction  of  both  Covent  Garden  and  the  New 
York  Metropolitan  there  has  been  less  to  choose  between  the 
two  opera  houses.  Each  searches  for  the  best  procurable  talent 
and  strives  to  give  opera  in  the  finest  possible  manner.  If 
there  be  any  difference  in  the  strength  of  ensemble  and  the 
average  brilliancy  of  the  vocal  constellation,  the  advantage  is 
now  on  the  side  of  New  York,  which  commands  (and  empties) 
by  far  the  larger  exchequer  for  the  indulgence  of  its  operatic 
luxuries. 

Half  a  century  ago  Americans  spent  their  money  liberally 
on  opera,  as  on  every  other  form  of  costly  amusement.  But 
their  taste  was  then  less  cultivated,  less  fastidious,  their  appre- 
ciation of  the  nuances  of  the  vocal  art  less  subtly  analytical. 
Their  standard  was  consequently  less  severe ;  and  as  with  the 


68  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

public  so  it  was  with  the  newspaper  critics,  who  were  regarded 
rather  as  accomplished  journalists  than  as  musicians. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  mid-Victorian  musical  critics  of  the 
London  press  were  familiar  with  the  dernier  mot  of  the 
Italian  school  of  vocalization.  They  were  accustomed  to  base 
their  judgment  upon  the  art  of  those  supreme  exemplars  who 
had  followed  in  the  wake  of  Catalani  and  Pasta, — to  wit, 
Malibran,  Sontag,  Jenny  Lind,  Grisi,  Bosio,  and  Alboni, — 
not  merely  celebrities  starring  on  tour  in  the  concert  room, 
but  great  singers  displaying  their  genius  in  their  true  native 
element,  the  lyric  theatre. 

While,  therefore,  this  severer  line  of  criticism  enhanced 
the  merit  of  a  very  wonderful  victory,  it  was  also,  in  the 
end,  to  prove  far  more  helpful  than  the  kind  that  sees 
perfection  in  every  effort.  Indeed,  the  change  of  milieu  was 
to  have  the  effect  of  exalting  the  level  of  the  new-comer's 
career  to  a  nobler  and  loftier  plane. 

From  the  outset,  this  slim,  captivating  girl,  with  her  beau- 
tiful organ  and  her  spontaneous,  birdlike  execution,  was 
bound  to  dazzle  and  delight  her  audiences.  Her  youthful- 
ness,  combined  with  her  natural  winning  grace,  her  intense 
earnestness  and  fire,  enabled  her,  here  as  elsewhere,  to  carry 
all  before  her.  The  hardest  of  the  cognoscenti  were  fain  to 
admit  in  after  years  that,  from  the  very  first,  she  had  been 
the  delicious  and  irresistible  Adelina  Patti  whose  magic  voice 
and  bewitching  personality  brought  the  whole  world  to  her 
feet. 

There  remains,  nevertheless,  to  answer  the  interesting  ques- 
tion— Was  the  diva  of  the  early  sixties  as  yet  the  matchless 
and  impeccable  vocal  artist  who  held  her  own  against  all 
comers  during  the  succeeding  three  decades? 

Apparently  not.  Mingled  with  her  supreme  gifts  were 
still  some  imperfections.  Writers  found  fault  with  her  on 
technical  grounds ;  they  even  objected  to  the  quality  of  certain 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  69 

notes  in  her  medium  register.  They  charged  her  with  occa- 
sional defects  of  style,  notably  an  excessive  employment  of 
the  staccato  in  her  fioriture  and  the  interpolation  of  inap- 
propriate embellishments.  They  admitted  the  amazing  skill 
and  finish  with  which  everything  was  executed,  but  they  still 
found  many  points  that  displeased  them. 

Now  these  same  newspaper  writers — James  Davison  of  the 
Times,  the  elder  Desmond  Ryan  of  the  Morning  Chronicle, 
Henry  Lincoln  of  the  Daily  News,  Henry  F.  Chorley  of  the 
Athenceum,  Sutherland  Edwards  of  the  St.  James's  Gazette, 
and  Henry  Hersee  of  the  Glooe,  among  others — were  to  linger 
long  enough  at  their  posts,  not  to  change  their  minds,  but  to 
witness  the  gradual  disappearance  of  every  blemish  that  had 
at  first  evoked  their  adverse  criticism.  As  a  matter  of  fact, 
in  the  course  of  two  or  three  seasons  they  ceased  to  entirely 
"pick  holes";  and  it  is  not  only  reasonable  but  fair  to  assume 
that  they  did  so  because  by  degrees  they  perceived  no  more 
holes  to  pick.  In  other  words,  by  dint  of  assiduous  study 
the  youthful  artist  contrived  to  rid  herself  of  her  imperfec- 
tions, one  by  one,  until  at  last  perfection  alone  remained. 

It  was,  she  declared,  her  ambition  to  be  above  criticism. 
It  has  been  asserted  that  she  was  never  allowed  to  peruse 
a  notice,  and  certainly  none  but  those  that  were  wholly  favor- 
able were  permitted  at  this  period  to  reach  her  gaze.  But 
Maurice  Strakosch,  as  in  duty  bound,  read  and  digested  every 
article  or  cutting  as  it  came  to  hand;  and  his  was  the  task 
of  prescribing  the  remedy  for  any  fault,  whether  of  concep- 
tion, technique,  or  execution.  Without  a  word  of  reproach, 
without  even  a  suggestion  that  anything  was  wrong,  he  would 
quietly  bring  about  the  necessary  change.  Sometimes  the 
process  in  this  way  would  take  weeks ;  sometimes  it  would  be 
accomplished  at  a  sitting.  In  any  case,  the  desired  alteration 
was  sure  to  be  effected  sooner  or  later.  The  fault  would  dis- 
appear, never  again  to  evoke  a  reproach. 


70  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

In  such  placid  fashion  did  Adelina  Patti  complete  her  task 
of  advancing  to  the  topmost  rung  of  the  artistic  ladder. 
The  ascent  never  made  her  giddy,  for  she  stopped  neither  to 
look  below  nor  glance  around.  She  had  begun,  indeed,  where 
the  majority  are  content  to  remain,  and  her  upward  progress 
was  never  hampered  or  delayed  by  a  solitary  obstacle  worthy 
of  mention. 

And  now,  after  this  preliminary  digression,  let  us  to  the 
story  of  the  debut. 

Tuesday,  May  14,  1861,  was  a  subscription  night  at  Covent 
Garden.  It  was  the  custom  then  to  allot  only  three  nights 
a  week  to  subscribers — Tuesdays.  Thursdays,  and  Saturdays. 
There  was  generally  an  "extra  night,"  as  it  was  termed,  on 
Wednesdays ;  but,  as  a  rule,  the  house  was  closed  on  Mondays 
and  Fridays.  This  arrangement  helped  to  enhance  the  bril- 
liancy of  the  subscription  nights,  so  that  the  numerous  at- 
tendance recorded  on  this  particular  occasion  owed  nothing  to 
the  first  appearance  of  a  new  prima  donna.  Its  vital  interest 
was  to  be  purely  posthumous. 

It  was  the  first  "Patti  night." 

Who  could  know  beforehand  that  it  was  to  inaugurate  a 
new  expression  in  the  language  of  opera-goers?  Who  could 
guess  that  the  term  "Patti  night"  was  thenceforward  to  be 
synonymous  with  excited  crowds,  gatherings  of  the  elite  of 
the  English  aristocracy,  magnificent  displays  of  dress  and 
diamonds,  seats  at  a  premium,  enthusiasm  inevitable  and 
without  stint?  No  one  could  dream  this,  or  there  would  have 
been  a  different  tale  to  tell.  Yet,  being  a  subscription  night, 
the  audience  was  as  surely  a  representative  one,  even  as  it  was 
the  most  distinguished  that  Adelina  Patti  had  yet  sung  before 
in  her  brief  stage  career. 

Here  is  the  cast  of  the  opera  as  it  appeared  in  Mr.  Gye's 
programme : 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  71 

ROYAL  ITALIAN  OPERA, 
COVENT  GARDEN. 


DEBUT  OF  MDLLE.  PATTI. 

14th  May,  1861. 

Bellini's  opera, 

"LA  SONNAMBULA." 

Amina Mdlle.  Patti. 

(Her  first  appearance  in  England) 

Lisa Mdme.    Tagliafico. 

Teresa Mdme.    Leva. 

Notaro Signor  Rossi. 

Count  Rodolf o Signor  Tagliafico. 

Alessio Signor  Polonini. 

Elvinu Signor    Tiberini. 

Conductor — Mr.  Costa. 

For  the  choice  of  the  opera  Mr.  Gye  was  responsible.  He 
wisely  preferred  it  to  "Lucia  di  Lammermoor, "  in  which  the 
new  soprano  had  made  her  New  York  debut  eighteen  months 
before.  Comparisons  with  other  Aminas  might  be  hard  to 
avoid,  but  Bellini's  heroine  was  one  of  the  lightest,  most 
girlish  parts  in  the  repertory,  and  less  exacting  from  a  dra- 
matic standpoint  than  that  of  Lucia.  The  critics  would  at 
least  have  to  admit  that  it  suited  her  and  that  the  ingenue 
of  eighteen  was  not  overweighted. 

The  impressions  of  that  reddest  of  red-letter  nights  have 
been  recorded  by  many  pens.  They  provided  material  for 
years  of  rapture  and  rhapsody.  They  were  recounted  again 
and  again  to  the  present  writer  by  people  who  had  been  for- 
tunate enough  to  be  there,  one  and  all  of  whom  agreed  that 
it  had  afforded  a  unique  experience  of  a  lifetime. 

For  never  before  was  expectation  so  far  surpassed;  never 
was  overwhelming  triumph  on  the  field  of  a  hundred  operatic 
battles  so  simply  and  so   easily  achieved.     From   her  aria 


72  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

d'entrata — the  suave  cantilena,  "Come  per  me  sereno, "  with 
its  gracious  pendant,  "Sovra  il  sen,"  all  through  the  opera 
to  the  pathetic  melody  of  "Ah!  non  credea"  and  the  brilliant 
finale,  "Ah!  non  giunge,"  the  youthful  songstress  held  her 
hearers  spellbound  by  the  witchery  of  her  voice,  her  art, 
and  her  personality.  As  a  famous  sporting  earl,  who  was 
a  great  patron  of  the  opera  in  the  sixties,  once  remarked  in 
my  hearing,  "She  made  her  own  running  and  won  hands 
down!" 

Truth  to  tell,  the  house  was  inclined  at  first  to  be  rather 
cold.  A  sympathetic  round  of  applause  greeted  the  new- 
comer when  her  slight  figure  emerged  from  the  wings  and, 
for  the  first  time,  she  took  the  centre  of  the  vast  stage  that  was 
thenceforth  to  know  her  so  well.  But  no  prolonged  evidence 
of  delight  was  forthcoming  until  after  the  curtain  fell  on  the 
first  act,  and  then,  in  accordance  with  the  custom  of  the 
period,  bouquets  were  hurled  on  to  the  stage  from  every 
direction.  From  that  moment  the  excitement  grew  and  grew, 
as  habitues  perceived  more  clearly  the  calibre  of  the  new  star, 
until  finally  the  opera  ended  amid  a  perfect  hurricane  of 
applause  and  recalls. 

The  critics,  like  the  public,  were  taken  utterly  by  surprise. 
They  were  prepared  to  hear  a  clever  girl — one  even  worthy, 
perhaps,  of  her  big  American  reputation — but  not  a  phenom- 
enon of  this  class;  a  vocal  wonder  not  yet  out  of  her  teens, 
combining  in  her  many-sided  talents  all  the  supreme  qual- 
ities of  the  great  Italian  school.  They  were  genuinely 
dumbfounded.1 

i  Writing  eleven  years  later  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  Joseph  Bennett 
recalled  the  debut  of  Adelina  Patti  in  these  terms:  "She  came,  as  ama- 
teurs of  opera  well  remember,  unheralded  by  trumpet-blowing  and  un- 
supported by  organised  enthusiasm  (an  article  at  that  time  largely 
manufactured).  In  plain  terms,  she  took  her  chance  with  the  public, 
resting  solely  upon  personal  merits  for  a  favourable  issue.  The  result 
is  matter  of  history,  and  in  it  genuine  talent  may  discover  ample  rea- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  73 

There  was  more  time  then  for  lengthy  over-night  notices 
than  in  these  days  of  journalistic  "hustle."  Critics  could 
write  for  the  morning  papers  until  2  or  even  3  a.  m. 
Davison's  article  in  the  Times  extended  to  an  entire  closely 
printed  column.1  A  notable  example  of  decisive  and  unerring 
judgment,  of  critical  acumen  and  quick  perception,  it  formed, 
notwithstanding  its  occasionally  involved  sentences,  a  masterly 
appreciation  of  the  rare  gifts  and  still  rarer  promise  evinced 
by  this  extraordinary  debutante. 

Late  as  it  was  when  the  performance  ended,  people  rushed 
from  the  opera  house  to  tell  their  friends  the  news  of  Mr. 
Gye's  precious  trouvaille.  It  spread  like  wildfire,  and 
formed  the  subject  of  conversation  at  the  West  End  clubs 
far  into  the  night.  By  the  morning  all  kinds  of  stories  were 
afloat  concerning  the  miraculous  accomplishments  of  the  girl 
prima  donna;  by  the  afternoon  every  seat  for  her  second 
appearance  had  been  disposed  of. 

The  Reign  of  Patti  had  begun ! 

It  is  important  to  dwell  for  a  moment  upon  the  significance 
of  this  event.  To  understand  it  properly  we  must  be  able  to 
visualize  Adelina  Patti  at  this  period — that  is  to  say,  what 
she  was  herself  and  what  she  stood  for  as  an  artist.  There 
can  be  few  persons  still  living  who  witnessed  her  debut  at 
Covent  Garden,  or  who  heard  her  during  her  first  season. 
Many  there  are,  however,  who  well  recollect  her  a  few  years 
later,  when  she  had  reached  her  prime;  and  for  such  (the 
present  writer  among  them)  there  has  never  been  any  great 
difficulty   in   conjuring  up   a   vivid   mental   picture   of   the 

son  for  hope  and  confidence.  We  do  not  overlook  the  gifts  of  person 
and  manner  which  were  adventitious  but  important  aids  to  Madame 
Patti's  triumph,  and  still  form  an  element  in  her  unmatched  perfection; 
but,  these  things  apart,  it  is  encouraging  to  see  how  genius  can  make 
its  way  to  the  front  and  there  command  approval." 

i  See  Appendix  D  for  this  and  other  notices  <jf  thq  debut. 


74  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

"Incantatrice"  as  she  was  when  she  arose  and  wrought  her 
unsuspected  spell  upon  a  blase  audience  on  that  memorable 

night. 

It  is  less  easy  to  describe  either  the  vision  or  the  singer 
without  employing  language  that  savors  of  hyperbole.  You 
are  to  conjure  up,  to  begin  with,  a  personality  of  the  utmost 
.harm,  embodied  in  a  "little  lady"  who  possessed  the  gift  of 
magnetism  in  the  same  degree  that  it  must  have  been  exer- 
cised by  a  Sarah  Siddons,  a  Malibran,  or  a  Rachel.  That 
power  was  enhanced  by  the  strange,  sensuous  beauty  of  a 
voice  that  thrilled  and  pursued  you— gorgeous  in  its  rich, 
dark,  voluptuous  coloring,  unsurpassable  in  its  perfect  equality 
throughout  the  scale — as  no  voice  has  ever  thrilled  or  haunted 

since. 

Imagine  first  this  combination,  with  its  irresistible  attributes 
of  youth  and  freshness,  of  natural  grace,  impulse,  and  spon- 
taneity. Then  imagine,  in  addition,  all  those  arts  of  the  great 
singer,  effortless  and  pure,  from  the  unaffected  touching  deliv- 
ery of  a  simple  melody  to  the  most  brilliant  conceivable  execu- 
tion of  every  known  example  of  Italian  coloratura.  Finally, 
think  of  the  all-pervading  touch  of  unfailing  dramatic  instinct, 
the  inborn  sense  of  the  theatre,  the  appropriateness  that 
stamped  with  the  impress  of  an  artistic  touch  every  look,  ges- 
ture, or  utterance. 

We  hear  to-day  of  singers  "in  the  great  line."  We  behold 
attempts  to  persuade  a  credulous  public  that  they  are  listen- 
ing to  "a  successor  of  Patti,"  because  some  intelligent  soprano 
with  a  pretty  voice  and  some  facility  can  render  neatly  a  few 
bravura  airs.  We  even  hear  clever  prime  donne  who  can 
do  fair  justice  to  the  hackneyed  old  arias,  but  have  only  a 
rudimentary  notion  of  how  to  sing  Mozart;  others  whose 
technique  is  equal  to  effective  fireworks,  but  does  not  extend 
to  ordinary  breath  control  or  a  genuine  shake.  Unfortu- 
nately, the  connoisseurs  of  the  twentieth  century  are  not  such 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  75 

fine  judges  of  the  vocal  art  as  those  who  "went  crazy"  over 
Adelina  Patti  when  she  first  came  out.  Such  comparisons  be- 
tween stars  of  the  past  and  present  are,  therefore,  unjustifiable 
and  absurd. 

The  youthful  diva  conquered  instantaneously  by  virtue  of 
an  astounding  combination  of  qualities  which  enabled  her  to 
fulfil  every  requirement  of  the  prevailing  standard — a  stan- 
dard that  was  not  merely  an  exalted  academic  theory,  but  a 
something  living,  palpable,  unmistakable,  in  the  ears  and 
minds  of  the  public  of  that  day.  Ready  as  they  were  at  that 
psychological  moment  to  acclaim  the  newly  arisen  star,  noth- 
ing less  than  a  genius  of  so  rare  an  order  could  have  satisfied 
them  or  have  roused  them  to  so  exceptional  a  pitch  of  en- 
thusiasm. 

So  much  for  the  secret  of  Patti's  initial  European  triumph. 
Her  unparalleled  hold  upon  two  operatice  generations  or  more 
may  be  explained  by  something  besides  her  genius  and  the 
remarkable  preservation  of  her  organ.  It  was  surely  due  in 
no  small  measure  to  the  fact  that  she  interpreted  the  operas 
and  the  music  dearest  to  the  public  of  her  time.  Nay,  more ; 
stopping  short  only  at  Wagner,  she  advanced  with  Verdi, 
Meyerbeer,  and  Gounod  in  the  period  of  change  that  marked 
the  first  solid  development  of  what  we  know  as  modern  opera. 
In  a  word,  declining  to  be  associated  exclusively  with  the 
"old  school,"  or,  indeed,  with  any  particular  phase  of  her 
art,  she  never  made  her  thousands  of  adorers  feel  that,  in 
order  to  listen  to  Patti,  they  were  compelled  to  sit  through 
operas  of  a  type  that  did  not  appeal  to  them. 

All  who  heard  Patti  in  the  early  seventies  were  able  to  form 
a  fairly  accurate  idea  of  the  irresistible  fascination  that  had 
brought  London  instantly  to  her  feet.  Concerning  the  excite- 
ment that  the  debut  created,  one  can  only  trust  contemporary 
evidence.     It  is  almost  impossible  at  this  distance  of  time 


76  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

to  convey  a  faint  notion  of  the  degree  to  which  the  community 
lost  its  head.  Even  Mr.  Punch  failed  to  preserve  his  equilib- 
rium, and  his  first  tribute  took  the  form  of  an  atrocious 
pun: — 

Describing  the  debut  last  week  of  Mile.  Patti,  whose  performance 
seemed  to  promise  us  a  second  Jenny  Lind,  one  of  the  critics  made 
a  remark  that  she  raised  the  house  en  masse  to  a  high  pitch  of  ex- 
citement. On  reading  this,  the  Wiscount,  who  chanced  to  be  just 
then  in  one  of  his  facetious  moods,  observed  to  his  friend  Vernal, 
"Raised  the  house,  did  she1?  Why,  really,  then,  she  must  be  quite 
a  hoister  Patti!" 

And  in  the  following  number  this: 

A  Poem  to  Patti 

0  charming  Adelina! 
How  sweet  is  thy  Amina! 
How  bewitching  thy  Zerlina! 
How  seldom  has  there  been  a 
More  tunable  Norina! 
And  have  I  ever  seen  a 
More  enjoyable  Rosina? 
But  to  tell  the  praise  I  mean  a- 
-Las!  there  should  have  been  a 
Score  more  x-hymes  to  Adelina, 


CHAPTER  VII 

The  Covent  Garden  Contract  Ratified — Facts  About  the  New  Terms — 
Progress  of  the  Patti  Craze  (1861) — First  Appearance  in  "Lucia" 
— Chor ley's  Carping  Criticisms  in  the  Athenwum — The  Girl  Violet ta — 
Resisting  Fatigue  and  Achieving  Perfection — The  Great  "Don  Gio- 
vanni" Cast:  a  Unique  Ensemble — Patti  and  Mario  in  "II  Barbiere" — 
The  Ideal  Zerlina  and  Rosina — Ornamentation  of  Rossini — The  Sea- 
son's Record — Charles  Dickens  on  the  New  Diva 

BETWEEN  the  night  of  Mile.  Patti 's  debut  and  her  second 
appearance  at  Covent  Garden  (again  in  the  part  of 
Amina)  eight  days  elapsed.  Under  the  circumstances  it  was 
an  unusually  long  interval,  and  in  all  probability  was  the  out- 
come of  design,  not  accident.  Anyhow,  it  so  helped  to  whet 
the  curiosity  of  the  public  that  seats  for  the  second  Patti  night 
were  to  be  had  at  the  libraries  only  at  an  exorbitant  premium. 

In  this  device  the  skilful  hand  of  Frederick  Gye  was  easily 
to  be  traced.  His  earlier  experiences  as  manager  of  Alfred 
Jullien's  concerts  had  made  him  an  adept  at  the  game  of 
"booming"  a  star.  He  knew  the  advantage  to  be  derived 
from  making  his  clientele  exercise  a  little  patience.  Other- 
wise he  had  little  to  do  in  this  case  but  sit  in  his  Bow 
Street  sanctum  and  allow  the  boom  to  develop  itself. 

Mr.  Gye  did  not,  however,  avail  himself  of  the  right  to  wait 
for  a  third  "trial  performance"  before  ratifying  his  contract 
with  Mile.  Patti  and  her  brother-in-law.  Neither  did  he  offer 
to  tear  it  up  and  substitute  another  agreement  more  favorable 
to  the  artist.  He  stuck  to  his  bargain,  and  merely  added  a 
clause  undertaking  to  pay  her  £100  for  every  performance 
over  and  above  the  two  a  week  already  stipulated  for. 

William  Kuhe  in  his  "Recollections"  tells  a  somewhat  dif- 

77 


78  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

ferent  story  regarding  this  new  arrangement.1  He  observes: 
'During  the  young  diva's  stay  in  Vienna,  it  was  found 
that  a  contract  signed  by  herself  alone  had  no  binding  power, 
since  she  was  not  of  age.  Mr.  Gye  had,  therefore,  to  renew 
his  agreement  with  her  for  three  years  on  terms  much  more 
advantageous  to  her  than  those  of  the  former  contract.  In 
this,  as  in  all  that  concerned  her  interests,  her  brother-in-law 
proved  himself  a  keen  business  man." 

But  what  does  the  brother-in-law  say  ? 

He  declares2  that  "Although  the  effect  of  Mile.  Patti's 
appearance  at  Covent  Garden  was  overwhelming  and  the 
enthusiasm  immediately  assumed  immense  proportions,  Mr. 
F.  Gye  stood  strictly  by  his  contract  until  the  five  years  had 
expired."  Barring  the  concession  of  £100  each  for  the  extra 
performances,  he  adds,  "Until  the  day  of  her  marriage  with 
the  Marquis  de  Caux,  Mme.  A.  Patti  never  received  from  Mr. 
Gye  more  than  £120  a  night."  3 

There  exists,  however,  a  plausible  explanation  of  the  above 
discrepancy,  tending  to  prove  that  neither  deponent  is  entirely 
right  or  wrong.  Mr.  Kuhe  places  the  visit  to  Vienna  in  the 
same  summer  (1861)  as  the  Covent  Garden  debut.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  Mile.  Patti  did  not  go  to  Vienna  in  that  year. 
She  made  her  first  appearance  in  the  Austrian  capital  in 
February,  1863.  By  that  time  two  of  her  five  years'  contract 
with  Mr.  Gye  had  expired,  and  it  may  very  well  be  that,  after 
the  legal  discovery  already  alluded  to,  Mr.  Gye  deemed  it 
wiser  to  enter  into  a  new  contract  for  the  three  remaining 
years,  as  stated  by  Mr.  Kuhe.  But  Maurice  Strakosch  does 
not  make  any  mention  of  this  renewal,  which  may  have  slipped 

i  Kuhe's  "Musical  Recollections,"  p.  156. 

-  "Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  p.  33. 

s  The  marriage  took  place  in  July,  1868,  and  as  the  original  contract 
with  Mr.  Gye  expired  after  the  season  of  1865,  the  higher  cachet  of  £120 
can  only,  according  to  Maurice  (Strakosch,  have  been  paid  during  the 
intervening  three  seasons. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  79 

his  memory.  Nor  does  he  make  any  allusion  to  the  ''more 
advantageous  terms,"  which  he  was  certainly  not  the  man  to 
have  forgotten  had  he  been  instrumental  in  securing  them. 

Meanwhile,  in  its  very  earliest  stages  the  progress  of  the 
Patti  craze,  as  rapid  as  it  was  widespread,  stirred  the  opera- 
lovers  of  London  to  displays  of  a  kind  that  had  not  been  in 
evidence  since  the  height  of  the  "Jenny  Lind  fever."  The 
crowds  that  gathered  at  the  stage-door  of  Covent  Garden 
were  so  large  that  the  services  of  an  extra  posse  of  police 
had  to  be  requisitioned  from  Bow  Street.  The  scene  inside 
the  opera  house  when  the  new  favorite  made  her  second 
appearance  as  Amina  afforded  some  idea  of  the  extent  to 
which  the  popular  imagination  had  become  aroused.  To  quote 
one  well-known  writer:  "Mile.  Patti  contrived  to  ravish  one 
half  the  house  and  convert  the  other  half,  who  had  gone 
to  hear  her  sceptical  as  to  all  the  reports  about  her,  and  now 
had  to  enrol  themselves  among  her  most  enthusiastic  admir- 
ers." 

That  was  on  Thursday,  May  23.  On  the  following  Saturday 
she  made  her  third  appearance,  this  time  in  "Lucia  di  Lam- 
mermoor,"  which  favorite  but  hackneyed  opera  had  not  been 
heard  at  Covent  Garden  for  four  years.  Very  different  was 
the  "atmosphere"  of  the  house  from  that  of  the  debut  night. 
It  was  now  tense  with  excitement  and  expectation ;  every  seat 
was  occupied ;  all  the  leaders  of  fashion  were  present.  The 
renowned  conductor,  Michael  Costa, — soon  to  sever  his  con- 
nection with  Covent  Garden, — glanced  round  the  auditorium 
with  a  look  of  satisfaction  as  he  buttoned  his  white  gloves 
and  twisted  the  silk  tassel  of  his  baton  round  his  wrist.  He 
was  already  a  great  friend  and  admirer  of  the  "little  lady." 

Nothing  was  lacking  that  could  lend  brilliancy  to  the 
occasion.  Even  Mr.  Gye  entered  his  box  earlier  than  usual 
to  survey  the  gratifying  scene.     He  always  occupied  the  "cosy 


80  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

corner"  next  to  the  stage,  almost  under  the  royal  box — a 
favored  nook  afterward  appropriated  by  Mr.  Alfred  de  Roths- 
child, who,  it  may  be  mentioned,  was  one  of  Mile.  Patti's  earli- 
est and  staunchest  supporters  in  Great  Britain. 

With  her  audience,  at  least,  the  success  of  the  new  Lucia 
was  never  in  doubt.  The  house  echoed  again  to  resounding 
plaudits,  and  at  each  curtain-fall  a  wealth  of  floral  gifts 
covered  the  broad  "apron"  between  the  curtain  and  the  foot- 
lights. The  final  cadenza  in  the  Mad  Scene  was  followed  by 
a  storm  of  enthusiasm  the  like  of  which  could  not  be  recalled 
by  the  oldest  habitue. 

Yet,  in  the  face  of  this  indubitable  triumph,  the  critics,  less 
dazzled  than  before,  less  taken  by  surprise,  remained  charac- 
teristically cool.  They  even  began  to  discover  shortcomings. 
Quite  justifiably,  no  doubt,  they  raised  their  critical  standard 
a  notch  or  two — as  high,  indeed,  as  it  would  go.  Even  Davi- 
son, if  he  had  lost  his  heart  over  the  new  Amino,  showed 
that  he  had  not  lost  his  head  sufficiently  to  declare  the  new 
Lucia  free  from  blemish.  His  notice  in  the  Times  1  was  well 
considered  and,  on  the  whole,  fair.  Of  the  weekly  papers  the 
Musical  World  gave  the  clearest  indication  why  the  critics 
were  disappointed — namely,  that  the  reading  of  the  char- 
acter was  less  charged  with  sentiment  than  the  Amina  had 
been.     This  brief  notice  may  usefully  be  quoted  here : 

Mile.  Patti  looked  the  character  of  Lucia  to  the  life,  but  she  cer- 
tainly betokened  none  of  the  passion  and  impulsive  feeling  so  re- 
markable in  her  Amino.  That  the  latter  may  be  more  agreeable  to 
her  instincts  is  not  unlikely;  but  still,  both  parts  having  been  played 
so  differently,  may  have  proceeded  from  nice  and  subtle  discrimi- 
nation of  character.  For  the  above  reasons,  and  for  these  only,  we 
cannot  affirm  that  Mile.  Patti  achieved  the  same  triumphant  success 
in  "Lucia"  as  in  "La  Sonnambula" — which  may  demonstrate  to  many 
of  her  admirers  that  she  belongs  more  to  the  Malibran  than  the 

i  See  Appendix  E. 


< 

w 
O 


W 
O 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  81 

Persiani  school,  which  is  indeed  our  own  conviction.  ...  In  the  Mad 
Scene,  however,  Mile.  Patti  came  up  to  the  very  highest  anticipa- 
tion, and  carried  the  whole  house  with  her  by  her  natural  and  earnest 
acting  and  her  really  admirable  singing. 

The  only  direct  broadside  attack  was  fired  by  Henry  P. 
Chorley,  the  powerful  musical  critic  of  the  Athenaeum, 
best  known  to  the  present  generation  by  his  inept  and  common- 
place translation  of  the  libretto  of  Gounod's  Faust.1  From 
this  quarter  something  bitter  had  been  expected,  for  Chorley 
was  one  of  those  wielders  of  the  critical  pen — to  be  found  in 
every  art  centre  and  in  every  age — whose  especial  delight 
it  is  to  make  themselves  feared.  He  was  a  singular  mixture 
of  ability,  conceit,  pomposity,  and  prejudice,  and  Joseph  Ben- 
nett has  truly  said  of  him : 2 

"He  had  a  special  faculty  of  putting  nasty  remarks  in 
very  small  paragraphs,  with  the  inevitable  result  of  making 
himself  obnoxious,  not  only  to  those  for  whom  they  were 
intended,  but  to  their  sympathizers  amongst  the  public  and  in 
the  press.  He  was  a  man  of  strong  likes  and  equally  pow- 
erful dislikes." 

At  the  outset  it  had  seemed  as  though  Adelina  Patti  might 
be  included  among  Chorley 's  "likes."  After  her  debut  he 
wrote:  "Mile.  Patti  was,  from  first  to  last,  greeted  with 
applause  as  rapturous  as  attended  the  best  of  her  predecessors. 
The  house  seemed  determined  to  pass  an  unanimous  vote  that 
she  was  perfect.  We  recollect  no  similar  ovation  at  the  Royal 
Italian  Opera. ' ' 3  Nevertheless,  he  was  of  opinion  that  her 
voice  sounded  ' '  rather  tired, ' '  and  he  adhered  to  that  opinion 
after  hearing  her  as  Lucia.     In  the  later  notice,  however,  he 

i  Still  used,  unfortunately,  upon  the  English  operatic  stage,  though 
long  past  copyright  protection.  The  publishers  to  whom  we  owe  this 
careful  preservation  of  a  literary  curiosity  have  essayed  to  improve  it, 
but  in  vain. 

2  "Forty  Years  of  Music,"  by  Joseph  Bennett,  1908. 

a  The  Athenaeum,  May  18,  1861. 


82  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

appeared  to  have  regretted  the  utterance  of  a  single  kind 
word,  and  wrote  so  harshly  that  his  object  must  have  defeated 
itself.1  II is  "nasty  remarks"  are  interesting  merely  as  a 
sample  of  the  only  species  of  adverse  criticism  that  the  youth- 
ful debutante  had  to  encounter. 

As  it  happened,  though,  she  never  heard  so  much  as  a 
distant  echo  of  these  snappy  barks  from  the  edifying  musical 
columns  of  the  Athena  urn.  Maurice  Strakosch  read  every 
notice,  but  Adelina  never  saw  an  unfavorable  line;  neither, 
probably,  did  her  faithful  and  devoted  father,  Salvatore  Patti, 
of  whom  little  is  heard  in  these  prosperous  London  days, 
albeit  he  partook  of  their  glories  and  looked  carefully  after 
the  cash.  It  was  only  by  means  of  her  brother-in-law,  then, 
that  the  beneficial  effect  of  instructive — as  distinguished  from 
destructive — criticism  filtered  through  to  her.  In  that  atten- 
uated form  she  recognized  in  it  nothing  worse  than  a  chaste 
incentive  to  the  attainment  of  greater  perfection  and  the 
creation  of  still  loftier  ideals. 

Anyhow,  as  soon  as  the  work  would  permit,  she  turned  to 
study  once  more,  and  accomplished  by  degrees  everything  that 
an  exacting  world  was  now  expecting  from  her.  But  that, 
of  course,  was  not  to  be  done  in  the  midst  of  a  strenuous  and 
exciting  London  season.     It  took  some  time. 

After  three  performances  of  ' '  Lucia, ' '  followed  by  no  fewer 
than  five  more  in  succession  of  "La  Sonnambula" — a  supply 
that  still  failed  to  satisfy  the  huge  demand— Mr.  Gye  grew 
extremely  bold.  He  revived  "La  Traviata"  with  by  far  the 
youngest  Violetta  that  had  ever  been  heard  at  Covent  Garden ; 
and,  as  some  one  said,  "in  order  not  to  change  the  luck," 
gave  her  for  supporting  artists  Signor  Tiberini  and  Signor 
Graziani — he  of  the  "noble  baritone,"  who  had  so  far  sung 
with  Mile.  Patti  from  the  second  night  she  appeared. 

i  See  Appendix  F. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  83 

The  experiment  resulted  in  another  hit.  Wiseacres  shook 
their  heads,  but  the  amazing  fact  nevertheless  stands  out  that 
the  girl  of  eighteen  was  fully  equal  to  the  task  of  portraying 
Dumas 's  fragile  heroine.1  Nay,  more ;  her  assumption  seems 
to  have  surprised  the  critics  by  its  originality  as  much  as  by 
its  maturity  of  conception  and  treatment.  The  notices  were 
all  favorable.  Even  the  hypercritical  Chorley  had  nothing 
to  say  against  her  impersonation  as  a  whole,  though  he  harped 
solemnly  upon  his  favorite  string — the  "fatigued"  tone  of 
her  voice.     He  wrote  in  the  Athenaeum : 

Midway  betwixt  Mile.  Piecolomini  and  Mme.  Bosio  stands  Mile. 
Patti  as  representative  of  'La  Traviata.'  She  is  generally  consid- 
ered to  have  made  a  decided  step  in  public  favour  by  her  perform- 
ance of  the  repulsive  part.  Her  acting  is  spoken  of  first  because 
we  think  it  better  than  her  singing.  .  .  .  Much  is  said  of  the  youth- 
ful promise  of  her  voice.  To  our  ears  it  is  already  worn  and  over- 
developed to  a  state  when  some  months  of  complete  rest  ought  judi- 
ciously to  be  afforded  to  it.  As  it  stands,  gain  of  volume  would 
only  lessen  such  charm  as  it  possesses. 

On  the  other  hand,  general  opinion  was  summed  up  by  the 
Musical  World  (July  6)  in  these  words: 

A  youthful,  interesting  appearance,  and  the  fresh  voice  of  girl- 
hood, are  indispensable  qualifications  for  the  representative  of 
Violetta,  and  such  are  possessed  by  Mile.  Patti.  .  .  .  Previous  per- 
formances have  not  prepared  us  for  the  striking  display  of  his- 
trionic genius  with  which  Mile.  Patti  delighted  the  public  on  Thurs- 
day night.  Her  last  scene  was  truthful  and  beautiful.  She  drew 
"the  trembling  tear  of  speechless  praise"  from  many  an  eye,  and  no 
eulogy  we  might  offer  could  exceed  this  spontaneous  tribute  to  the 
histrionic  powers  of  the  young  artist.  If  Mile.  Patti  played  this 
scene  so  admirably,  it  may  be  readily  supposed  that  where  brilliant 
fluency  of  vocalisation  was  required  she  shone  with  almost  incom- 
parable lustre. 

i  See  Appendix  F. 


84  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

If  Chorley  was  right,  it  would  have  taken  not  weeks  but 
months  of  absolute  rest  to  overcome  the  "worn"  condition 
of  the  voice  he  was  in  the  habit  of  referring  to.  But  his 
opinion  was  never  confirmed,  either  by  other  authorities  or 
by  the  actual  facts.  His  caustic  utterances  on  the  subject 
sounded  too  persistently  harsh  to  be  altogether  sincere ;  the 
grudging  praise  that  sugared  the  pill  had  a  hollow  ring,  like 
that  of  all  critics  who  are  incapable  of  whole-souled  admira- 
tion or  who  are  jealous  of  "discoveries"  that  they  themselves 
have  not  unearthed. 

Let  this  insinuation  be  answered  once  for  all.  Had  the 
symptoms  that  Chorley  pretended  to  perceive  in  Adelina 
Patti's  voice  in  the  year  of  her  debut  been  those  of  physical 
fatigue,  due  to  strain  or  overwork,  their  pernicious  effects  at 
that  delicate  period  of  adolescence  would  in  all  probability 
have  become  permanent.  She  may  have  worked  exceptionally 
hard  for  a  girl  of  her  age ;  but  it  is  well  known  that  she  was 
never  allowed  to  sing  either  when  she  was  tired  or  until  she 
became  tired.  No  singer  ever  suffered  less,  at  any  period  of  an 
abnormally  long  career,  from  the  effects  of  reaction ;  while 
at  eighteen  her  splendid  constitution,  her  capacity  for  main- 
taining physical  and  mental  energy  at  full  pressure,  had 
already  developed  to  a  degree  that  those  who  had  known  her 
as  a  rather  delicate  child  could  hardly  believe  possible. 

Fatigue,  indeed !  It  is  more  than  likely  that  Chorley  imag- 
ined he  was  listening  to  another  Jenny  Lind — as  Jenny  Lind 
was  before  she  went  to  Manuel  Garcia  to  learn  the  true  art 
of  singing.  If  so,  how  did  history  verify  Chorley 's  fable? 
Patti  sang  in  public  incessantly  until  he  died  (in  1872)  and 
then  for  thirty-four  years  longer;  in  all,  an  active  career  in 
England  of  forty-five  years.  Prime  donne  who  strain  their 
voices  at  eighteen  do  not  achieve  this  sort  of  record ;  nor  do 
they  continue  to  sing  with  a  clear,  beautiful  tone  after  they 
have  attained  the  age  of  seventy ! 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  85 

Imagine  Patti  and  Grisi  in  the  same  opera,  and  that  opera 
Mozart's  immortal  ''Don  Giovanni"!  Such  was  the  constel- 
lation of  planets  (rising  and  setting)  that  Frederick  Gye 
sought  to  make  the  culminating  feature  of  this  unparalleled 
season  of  1861.  The  excellent  idea  was  carried  into  effect. 
Last  of  a  series  of  interesting  revivals  for  the  farewell  appear- 
ances of  Mme.  Grisi,  this  particular  one,  linking  together 
for  all  time  two  of  the  most  illustrious  names  in  the  history 
of  opera,  was  given  on  July  6,  1861,  with  the  following 
cast: 

Don  Giovanni Monsieur  Faure. 

Don  Ottavio Signor  Tamberlik. 

Masetto Signor  Roneoni. 

Leporello Herr  Formes. 

II  Cominendatore Signor  Tagliafico. 

Donna  Anna Madame  Grisi. 

Donna  Elvira Mile.  Csillag. 

Zerlina Mile.  Adelina  Patti. 

Conductor  .      .      .   Mr.  Costa. 

For  years  did  musical  writers,  members  of  the  vieille  garde, 
descant  upon  the  glories  of  this  great  cast.  In  the  days  of 
the  writer's  youth  it  was  still  recalled  with  tender  regret, 
as  a  treasured  memory,  as  in  a  sense  the  operatic  clou  of  the 
mid- Victorian  era.  And,  indeed,  it  was  never  equalled  as 
a  galaxy  of  famous  singers  of  that  period.  Even  the  fast- 
diminishing  vocal  strength  of  Grisi  did  not  detract  from  the 
dramatic  grandeur  of  her  Donna  Anna.  Csillag,  too,  was 
a  fine  singer;  she  was  considered  the  best  Donna  Elvira  of 
her  day.  Faure,  the  renowned  French  baritone, — creator 
of  roles  such  as  Mephistopheles,  Hamlet,  Hoel,  and  Nelusko, — 
was  just  arriving  at  the  summit  of  his  powers. 

Then,  Tamberlik  was  one  of  the  most  artistic  and  admired 
tenors  on  the  stage.     The  celebrated  Roneoni  was  as  superb 


SO  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

in  comedy  as  in  tragedy.  Tagliafico  was  also  exceedingly 
versatile;  while  Carl  Formes — perhaps  the  finest  basso  pro- 
fondo  that  Great  Britain  ever  heard — was  an  unsurpassable 
Leporello.  Only  the  ideal  Zerlina  was  wanting,  and  she  came 
— came,  sang  and  conquered ! — in  the  person  of  Adelina  Patti, 
who  was  now  seen  in  the  most  admired  of  all  her  roles,  with 
the  single  exception  of  her  Rosina  in  "II  Barbiere." 

It  was  thought  by  some  that  her  delicious  impersonation  of 
Mozart's  heroine  derived  an  added  charm  from  the  supreme 
excellence  of  such  an  unprecedented  ensemble.  It  may  well 
have  been  so.  At  the  same  time,  we  can  imagine  what  it  must 
have  meant  for  any  juvenile  artist  still  in  her  teens  to  be 
instantly  recognized  as  worthy  to  associate  in  Mozart 's  master- 
piece with  some  of  the  greatest  singers  in  the  world.  We 
can  fancy  what  would  have  be"en  said  had  her  delineation 
fallen,  in  either  a  vocal  or  any  other  sense,  below  the  level 
of  theirs.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  proved  equal  to  the  best, 
and  it  created  a  sensation  such  as  the  contemporary  pen  can 
most  fitly  describe.1 

Said  one  reviewer2  of  the  memorable  premiere:  "With 
this  exquisite  achievement  Mile.  Patti  casts  all  her  previous 
triumphs  into  the  shade."  Others  noted  that  in  contra-dis- 
tinction  to  her  Amina,  her  Lucia,  and  her  Violetta,  here  was 
something  classical:  a  delineation  beautifully  symmetrical  in 
its  purity  of  outline,  belonging,  as  it  were,  to  a  more  exalted 
region  of  her  art.  For  she  was  able  to  fulfil  its  most  exigent 
demands  in  the  highest  perfection.  It  demonstrated  in  her 
at  once  the  genuine  and  accomplished  Mozart  singer,  the  born 
exponent  of  the  Spanish  type,  the  fascinating  Zerlina  incar- 
nate, the  simple  peasant  girl  whose  nature,  as  Otto  Jahn  says, 
"is  neither  deep  nor  passionate,  but  light  and  impression- 
able"; who  "becomes  an  easy  prey  to  the  elegant  man  of  the 

i  See  Appendix  G. 
-  Musical  World. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  87 

world";  whose  "vanity  is  flattered  by  his  condescension"; 
and  whose  "innocent  mind  is  at  once  impressed  with  a  con- 
viction of  his  truthfulness." 

Greater  by  comparison  with  her  own  previous  efforts,  it 
was  also  declared  to  be  superior  to  anjr  portrayal  of  the  same 
role  that  had  been  witnessed  for  a  generation.  Indeed,  one 
critic  went  still  farther  and  wrote:  "Her  Zerlina  has  been 
pronounced  the  best  since  Malibran's;  it  is,  however,  better 
than  Malibran's!"  One  solitary  "croak"  only  was  heard  in 
opposition  to  the  unanimous  chorus  of  praise,  and  that  was 
uttered  (of  course)  by  Chorley,  who  delivered  himself  in  the 
Athenccum  of  the  following:  "Mile.  Patti's  Zerlina  is  also 
much  admired.  But,  to  our  thinking,  the  peculiar  quality  of 
her  voice  tells  not  pleasantly  in  Mozart's  music.  .  .  .  Her 
acting  was,  in  our  opinion,  too  old  and  knowing"  (sic). 

The  rush  to  hear  "Don  Giovanni"  became  tremendous. 
Grisi  sang  her  farewells  to  "capacity,"  and,  after  four  per- 
formances, two  more  had  to  be  added  at  the  very  end  of 
the  season.  In  the  meantime  the  procession  of  Patti  nights 
also  went  on  without  interruption  at  the  rate  of  two  a  week, 
and  on  July  13  the  diva,  as  she  was  now  universally  called, 
scored  another  hit  in  "Martha."  Associated  with  her  in 
Flotow  's  opera  were  Mario,  Grazani,  and  Tagliafico,  while  the 
piquant  grace  and  freshness  of  her  Lady  Enrichetta  elicited 
unqualified  expressions  of  delight. 

Finally,  on  July  27,  came  her  first  appearance  in  Rossini's 
"Barbiere  di  Siviglia,"  with  the  following  remarkable  cast: 

II  Conte  Almaviva Signor  Mario. 

Figaro Signor  Ronconi. 

Don  Basilio Signor  Tagliafico. 

Don  Bartolo  .  Signor  Ciampi. 

Berta Mme.  Tagliafico. 

Rosina Mile.  Adelina  Patti. 


88  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Fancy  Mario,  prince  of  tenors,  still  fairly  in  his  prime, 
as  the  Almaviva  to  that  enchanting  Rosina  of  eighteen  sum- 
mers! What  an  experience!  Alas,  we  can  do  no  more  than 
"fancy." 

The  furore  created  by  this  ensemble  was  so  unparalleled 
that  Mr.  Gye  was  petitioned  to  extend  the  season  until  the 
middle  of  August,  so  as  to  accommodate  a  portion  of  the 
overflowing  crowds  that  were  in  vain  besieging  the  doors  of 
Covent  Garden  both  for  Rossini's  masterpiece  and  Mozart's. 
The  idea  was,  however,  found  to  be  impracticable,  because 
every  one  connected  with  the  opera  house  had  by  now  become 
exhausted  by  the  prolonged  excitement  and  work  of  this  extra- 
ordinary season.  The  person  least  affected  was  the  wonderful 
creature  who  was  the  cause  of  it  all.  But  in  her  case  Maurice 
Strakosch  was  adamant.  He  would  not  let  her  go  on  a  day 
beyond  the  extra  performances  already  agreed  upon. 

The  tired  critics  were  certainly  not  equal  to  a  further 
effort.  The  new  Bosina  had  sent  them  into  the  wildest 
ecstasies  of  delight,  although,  being  by  this  time  destitute 
of  fresh  superlatives,  they  could  only  draw  upon  the  old 
stock  and  utilize  them  with  painful  reiteration.  Even  Chorley 
vied  with  Davison  and  the  rest  in  the  endeavor  to  do  justice 
to  what  they  now  openly  declared  to  be  an  epoch-making  mani- 
festation of  genius.1 

The  sole  loophole  afforded  by  the  "Barbiere"  performance 
for  the  exercise  of  adverse  critical  comment  was  the  vexed 
question  of  the  particular  ornaments  and  "changes"  that 
Mile.  Patti  introduced  into  her  arias  and  duets.  Here  it  had 
been  a  sore  point  for  years.  No  matter  who  the  vocalist,  no 
matter  how  artistic  or  appropriate  the  ornamentation,  the  com- 
plaint of  undue  interference  with  the  composer  was  one  that 
the  critics  never  failed  to  make  where  Rossini  was  concerned. 
Curiously  enough,   the   sticklers  for   a  literal   rendering   of 

i  See  Appendix  H. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  89 

« 

his  music  were  infinitely  more  severe  and  unrelenting  than 
Rossini  himself.1  The  point  will  be  dealt  with  later  in  these 
pages,  but  meanwhile  it  may  be  confidently  asserted  that  from 
first  to  last  the  alterations  and  additions  made  by  Patti  to 
the  musical  text  of  "II  Barbiere"  (as  subsequently  also  in  the 
case  of  "Seniiramide")  were  entirely  approved  by  the  com- 
poser. 

The  season  of  1861  ultimately  came  to  a  close  on  August  2, 
"Don  Giovanni"  being  repeated  on  two  consecutive  nights 
to  wind  up  with.  In  all,  Adelina  Patti  sang  twenty-five  times 
in  six  operas  within  a  period  of  eleven  weeks.  Below  is  a 
list  of  those  operas  in  the  order  of  their  production,  with  the 
number  of  performances  given  of  each : 

"La  Sonnambula" 9 

"Lucia  di  Lammermoor" 4 

"La  Traviata" 2 

"Don  Giovanni" 6 

"Martha" 2 

"II  Barbiere  di  Sividia" 2 


'£>■« 


Total 25 

To  sum  up  the  recorded  impressions  of  this  phenomenal 
season  would  be  no  easy  matter,  and  it  would  occupy  too  much 
space  to  quote  even  the  pick  of  the  effusive  utterances  that 
appeared  in  print  after  Covent  Garden  had  closed  its  doors. 
Suffice  it  to  say  that,  the  new  diva  having  retired  on  her 
laurels,  not  only  journalists  but  distinguished  writers  in  other 
than  musical  spheres  penned  their  various  eulogies  upon  the 
achievement   above   recorded.     Not  the  least  noteworthy  of 

i  A  n'otable  example  of  this  puritanic  sense  of  duty  was  forthcoming 
a  couple  of  years  after  in  a  notice  in  the  Musical  'World  of  a  revival  of 
"II  Barbiere"  at  Covent  Garden  with  practically  the  same  cast.  See 
Appendix  H   (a). 


90  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

these  articles  was  one  by  Charles  Dickens  that  appeared  in 
the  pages  of  All  The  Year  Round.1  The  gifted  author  was 
but  one  of  thousands  who  had  figuratively  but  unhesitatingly 
flung  themselves  at  the  feet  of  the  delightful  little  songstress. 
The  whole  world,  indeed,  was  paying  homage  at  her  throne. 
And,  be  it  said,  she  bore  her  honors  alike  then  and  there- 
after with  modesty,  dignity,  and  grace. 

i  See  Appendix  I. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

The  "Queen  of  Song"  at  Her  First  State  Concert  (1861) — A  Royal  Se- 
lection— The  Programme — Mapleson  at  Her  Majesty's  Opposes  Gye — 
Patti  at  the  Birmingham  Festival — Dividing  the  National  Anthem — 
Debuts  at  Dublin,  Berlin,  Brussels,  and  The  Hague — Visits  Pauline 
Lucca — Brussels  Hails  a  '"Grande  Comedienne" — English  Opinion  of 
Patti's  Acting — Higher  Fees  Demanded — A  Gamble  at  Homburg  and 
Its  Consequences 

THE  termination  of  her  first  London  season  saw  Adelina 
Patti  firmly  established  upon  an  eminence  of  her  own, 
standing  quite  apart  from  the  lower  and  broader  plateau  that 
accommodated  the  ordinary  deities  of  the  operatic  Olympus. 
Thanks  chiefly  to  her  incomparable  talent,  but  also  to  a  "for- 
tuitous concourse  of  events"  so  shaped  that  at  the  psycho- 
logical moment  everything  was  ready  to  tell  in  her  favor,  the 
British  public  had  placed  her  practically  beyond  the  reach  of 
rivalry.  She  was  already  the  new  diva.  Ere  long  she  was 
to  be  the  proud  possessor  of  a  yet  more  distinguished  and 
unusual  sobriquet,  an  English  one — to  wit,  the  "Queen  of 
Song." 

Meanwhile,  it  was  a  real  queen — Victoria  of  blessed  mem- 
ory— who  helped  to  set  the  seal  upon  Patti's  fame  six  weeks 
after  her  first  appearance  at  Covent  Garden.  In  this  instance, 
as  in  so  many  others,  it  seemed  as  if  the  stars  in  their  courses 
worked  "overtime"  in  favor  of  the  youthful  prima  donna. 
Half  a  year  later  the  English  nation  was  to  be  plunged  into 
prolonged  mourning  through  the  sudden  and  premature  death 
of  the  Prince  Consort.  In  June,  1861,  London  was  at  its 
brightest  and  gayest.    The  Prince  was  alive  and  in  good  health, 

and,  although  ihej  were  not  very  frequent  visitors  at  the 

91 


92  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

opera,  the  Queen  and  his  Royal  Highness  were  always  well  in- 
formed concerning  the  ability  of  the  new  singers  appearing 
there. 

But  they  had  gone  more  than  once  to  hear  Mile.  Adelina 
Patti,  and  had  expressed  their  admiration  for  her  singing  in 
the  warmest  terms.  Accordingly  it  was  no  great  surprise 
when  she  received  through  Mr.  Gye  the  royal  command  to 
take  part  in  the  State  Concert  at  Buckingham  Palace  on 
June  28. 

A  State  Concert  in  mid-Victorian  days  was  a  very  serious, 
not  to  say  solemn  function.  The  programme,  as  a  rule,  con- 
sisted largely  of  sacred  or  semi-classical  pieces ;  only  occasion- 
ally did  it  include  operatic  selections,  which  were  to  furnish 
the  principal  pabulum  in  later  years.  It  must  be  accounted 
a  strange  coincidence  that  the  new-comer  should  have  been 
called  upon  to  take  part  in  the  last  programme  that  Prince 
Albert  helped  Queen  Victoria  to  select  and  approve.  Not 
a  single  secular  item  was  to  be  in  it.  Would  Mile.  Patti  be 
able  to  sing  the  kind  of  music  that  was  required  ? 

When  Mr.  Gye  put  the  question  to  Maurice  Strakosch,  he 
replied,  with  a  smile,  that  her  musical  education  had  not 
been  precisely  neglected.1  "Was  church  music  asked  for? 
She  could  sing  it  with  the  best  of  them.  Did  the  Court  wish 
for  Mendelssohn?  She  would  gladly  'oblige'  with  the  air 
from  'Elijah.'     In  short,  anything  the  Queen  might  desire." 

i  Even  Chorley  had  to  acknowledge  the  truth  of  this.  In  his  next 
A  thenceum  article  he  made  reference  to  the  above  State  Concert  in  these 
terms:  "It  may  be  observed  that  the  young  lady,  a  few  evenings  since, 
at  the  Koyal  Concert,  sang  an  air  from  Mendelssohn's  "Elijah"  and  an 
offertory  by  Hummel,  thus  making  evident  that  she  affects  a  repertory 
wider  than  that  of  the  three  or  four  operatic  parts  parroted  by  hearsay 
tuition,  on  the  strength  of  which  certain  of  her  predecessors  have,  for 
a  time,  deceived  their  public.  Due  credit  is  to  be  given  for  this,  espe- 
cially by  the  few,  like  ourselves,  who  have  not  been  carried  away  by 
the  Hood  of  rapture  which  burst  forth  on  Mile.  Patti's  first  perform- 
ances." 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  93 

Her  Majesty  and  the  Prince  readily  agreed  to  "Hear  ye, 
Israel,"  and  also  to  Hummel 's  "Alma  Virgo,"  a  motet  for 
soprano  solo  with  chorus.  It  was,  however,  stipulated  that 
the  latter  should  not  be  described  as  an  offertorium,  but  as 
an  "air  with  chorus."  Music  from  Roman  Catholic  services 
was  not  openly  tolerated  at  Court;  it  had  to  appear  there 
under  a  thin  veil  of  disguise. 

The  programme  of  this  State  Concert,  if  solid  and  lengthy, 
was  undeniably  interesting,  and  a  copy  of  it  is  here  repro- 
duced : 

{ROYAL  COAT  OF  ARMS) 

HER   MAJESTY'S    STATE    CONCERT, 

BUCKINGHAM  PALACE. 

June  28th,  1861. 


PART  THE  FIRST. 

Selection  from  "St.  Paul."     Mendelssohn. 
Overture. 

Chorus "Lord !     Thou  alone  art  God." 

Chorale "To  God  on  High." 

Reeit "And  the  many  that  believed." 

(Mdlle.  Titiens,  Mr.  Santley,  and  Mr.  Patey) 

Chorus "Now  this  man  ceaseth  not." 

Recit "And  all  that  sat  in  the  council." 

(Mdlle.  Titiens  and  Signor  Gardoni) 

Chorus "Take  him  away." 

Recit "Lo !     I  see  the  heavens  opened." 

(Signor  Gardoni) 

Aria "Jerusalem!     Jerusalem!" 

(Mdlle.  Adelina  Patti) 

Recit "Then  they  ran  upon  him." 

(Signor  Gardoni) 

Chorua "Stone  him  to  death." 

Recit "And  they  stoned  him." 

(Signor  Gardoni) 


94  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Chorale "To  Thee,  0  Lord/' 

Kecit "And  the  witnesses." 

(Mdlle.   Titiens) 
Chorus "Happy  and  blest  are  they." 

No.  21  in  ''Elijah."     Air:     "Hear  ye,  Israel."  Mendelssohn. 

(Mdlle.  Adelina  Patti) 

"Kyrie  and  Gloria"  (Service  in  C)  Beethoven. 

(Mdlle.  Titiens,  Miss  Lascclles,  Signor  Giuglini,  Mr.  Patey,  Mr. 

Santley,  and  Chorus) 

PART  THE  SECOND. 

No.  10  in  "Israel."     Chorus— "But  as  His  People."  Handel. 

Nos.  8  and  9  in  "Creation."     Recit.  and  Air:     "With  verdure  clad." 

Haydn. 
(Mdlle.  Titiens) 
No.  2  in  "Stabat."     Air:     "Cujus  animam."  Rossini. 

(Signor  Giuglini) 
Air  and  Chorus:     "Alma  Virgo."  Hummel. 

(Mdlle.  Adelina  Patti) 
Romance  ("Joseph"),  "A  peine  au  sortir  de  l'enfance."  Mehul. 

(Signor  Gardoni) 
No.  6  in  "Stabat."     Quartette:     "Sancta  Mater."  Rossini. 

(Mdlle.  Titiens,  Miss  Lascelles,  Signor  Giuglini,  and  Mr.  Santley) 
No.  14  in  "Creation."     Chorus  and  Trio:     "The  heavens  are  telling." 

Haudn. 
(Mdlle.  Titiens,  Signor  Gardoni,  and  Mr.  Santley) 

That  the  singer's  reputation  was  enhanced  by  this  appear- 
ance at  Buckingham  Palace  there  can  be  no  question.  It 
was  considered  an  unusual  honor  for  so  young  an  artist  to 
receive,  and  she  must  have  requited  it  by  singing  magnifi- 
cently, for  the  Queen  never  forgot  the  occasion.  Her  Majesty 
recalled  it  to  Mme.  Patti  in  after  years. 

The  appearance  of  other  distinguished  operatic  names  on 
the  same  programme  demands  a  word  of  explanation.  During 
the  greater  part  of  the  season  of  1861  the  Royal  Italian  Opera 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  95 

had  enjoyed  the  practical  monopoly  for  which,  as  we  know, 
Mr.  Gye  paid  E.  T.  Smith  £4,000.  At  any  rate,  no  competi- 
tive enterprise  had  ventured  into  the  field  until  Mr.  Maplcson 
opened  the  Lyceum  Theatre,  on  June  8,  with  a  first-rate 
Italian  opera  company,  comprising  Tietjens,  Alboni,  Giuglini, 
Gardoni,  Gassier,  and  Delle  Sedie,  with  Arditi  as  conductor. 
This  was  a  fairly  strong  combination,  though  for  obvious 
reasons  it  could  make  no  headway  against  the  powerful  forces 
intrenched  at  Covent  Garden. 

Still,  Mapleson's  short  initial  season  is  worthy  of  mention, 
because  it  enabled  him  to  demonstrate  his  capacity  as  an  im- 
presario, and  incidentally  to  secure  the  tenancy  of  Her 
Majesty's  Theatre  for  the  following  year,  which  was  expected 
to  be  exceptionally  brilliant  on  account  of  the  International 
Exhibition  to  be  held  at  the  Crystal  Palace.1 

After  the  close  of  her  first  Covent  Garden  season,  the  singer 
whose  triumphs  had  made  it  memorable  was  allowed  a  brief 
holiday  by  the  seaside  to  recoup  her  strength  for  the  labors 
that  lay  before  her.  These  were  by  no  means  to  be  insig- 
nificant, since  Messrs.  Gye  and  Strakosch  had  been  over- 
whelmed with  demands  for  her  services.  Among  the  offers 
was  one  from  the  Committee  of  the  Birmingham  Musical 
Festival,  which  important  triennial  event  took  place  that 
autumn.  Her  terms  had  gone  up  with  a  jump,  and  a  fee 
of  500  guineas  was  asked  for  four  concerts.  The  Committee 
hesitated;  but  Michael  Costa  was  the  conductor  of  the  Fes- 
tival, and,  what  is  more,  the  "boss"  of  the  Committee.  Patti, 
he  insisted,  must  be  engaged!     And  engaged  she  was.     Prior, 

i  A  similar  course  of  procedure  was  to  be  followed  twenty-six  years 
later,  when  Augustus  Harris  gave  his  tentative  season  of  Italian 
opera  at  Drury  Lane,  introducing  the  two  De  Reszkes,  Battistini,  and 
other  fine  artists.  He  lost  £10,000  in  a  month  over  the  speculation, 
but  made  such  an  impression  that  he  was  able  to  obtain  the  lease  of 
Covent  Garden  for  the  following  season  (1888),  together  with  the  sup- 
port of  a  large  body  of  subscribers. 


96  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

however,  to  singing  at  Birmingham,  says  our  friend  Mr. 
Kuhe,  "she  came  one  evening  to  Brighton  to  sing  at  my  con- 
cert, this  being  her  first  appearance  on  the  concert  platform 
in  England."1 

Her  success  at  the  Birmingham  Festival  amply  justified 
Costa's  confidence.  She  did  not  take  part  in  the  choral  works, 
but  her  name  drew  overflowing  crowds  to  each  of  the  evening 
concerts,  and  her  singing  was  the  sensational  feature  of  the 
week.  To  what  extent  she  had  aroused  curiosity  is  shown  by 
the  following  quotation  from  an  article  in  the  current  Musical 
World: 

It  may  be  boldly  asserted,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that 
every  person  among  the  vast  assembly  awaited  with  anxious  expec- 
tation the  appearance  of  our  recent  musical  importation  from  Amer- 
ica— an  importation  in  the  eyes  of  sundry  enthusiastic  musicians 
worth  all  the  cotton  ever  sent  from  New  Orleans.  ...  At  length 
the  wished-for  moment  arrived,  and  Mile.  Adelina  stood  upon  the 
platform.  In  a  moment,  aye,  in  less,  a  thousand  glances  were  lev- 
elled at  her.  It  struck  me  that  the  first  impression  was  one  of  in- 
credulity, and  those  who  had  reported  such  marvels  of  the  youthful 
prima  donna  fell  at  least  cent,  per  cent,  in  the  estimation  of  their 
fellow  provincials.  But  this  state  of  things  did  not  continue  long, 
and  ere  Mile.  Patti  had  concluded  the  cabaletta  of  her  first  air 
("Ah,  fors'  e  lui")  she  had  worked  her  audience  up  to  a  state  of 
enthusiasm.  Her  triumph  in  the  air  from  "La  Sonnambula"  was 
even  more  brilliant,  and  excited  a  tempest  of  applause,  which  could 
not  be  allayed  until  she  had  accepted  an  encore.  Again  at  a  later 
concert  Mile.  Patti  made  another  stride  in  the  affections  of  the 
Birmingham  public  by  her  rendering  of  the  Mad  Scene  from 
"Lucia."  The  air  was  vociferously  applauded  and  encored,  but  the 
fair  artist  contented  herself  with  repeating  the  cabaletta,  though  she 
was  more  yielding  with  regard  to  Hook's  song  ("Within  a  mile  of 
Edinboro  toon")  in  Part  II,  and  gave  the  whole  of  it  a  second  time. 

It  should  be  understood  that  encores  at  a  Birmingham  Fes- 

i  "Musical  Recollections,"  p.  155. 


CM 

to 


as 
< 

o 

»— i 

Q 


X 


THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI  97 

tival  were  the  exception,  not  the  rule.  Sims  Reeves  was 
similarly  honored  at  the  same  concerts,  but  he,  as  usual,  flatly- 
refused  to  "oblige."  The  only  operatic  star  who  shared  the 
feminine  laurels  of  the  week  with  the  new  diva  was  the  gifted 
Tiet jens ;  and  in  the  end  it  was  so  hard  to  differentiate  between 
them  that,  at  the  final  concert,  the  committee  found  itself  com- 
pelled to  ask  the  two  ladies  to  divide  the  solos  in  ' '  God  Save 
the  Queen."  Accordingly,  one  sang  the  first  verse,  the  other 
the  second,  and  both  joined  in  the  third. 

During  the  last  three  months  of  1861  Mile.  Patti  sang  in 
many  places,  but  nowhere  did  she  meet  with  a  more  hearty 
reception  than  in  Dublin.  She  appeared  there  at  the  Theatre 
Royal  in  November,  in  a  round  of  her  favorite  parts,  wind- 
ing up  with  an  impersonation  of  Lady  Enrichetta  in  "Mar- 
tha" that  drove  her  admirers  literally  frantic  with  delight.1 

That  night,  when  she  bade  them  farewell,  the  Dublin  boys 
accorded  her  a  terrific  ovation : 

The  horses  were  taken  out  of  her  carriage  by  the  crowd  as  she 
left  the  Theatre  Royal.  They  dragged  the  vehicle  from  the  theatre 
to  Morrison's  Hotel,  several  mounting  to  the  roof  and  others  cling- 
ing to  the  back.  The  shouts  of  the  populace  followed  them  to  their 
destination,  and  when  they  arrived  there,  they  begged,  or  rather  in- 
sisted, that  Mile.  Patti  would  address  a  few  words  to  them  from  the 
balcony.  This  she  very  graciously  agreed  to  do,  and,  presenting 
herself  on  the  balcony,  notwithstanding  the  drenching  rain,  she 
thanked  her  Dublin  friends  cordially  for  their  generous  patronage, 
and  showered  upon  them  the  bouquets  she  had  previously  received 
from  the  audience. 

She  left  at  the  end  of  the  same  month  for  Berlin — not  for 
Brussels,  where  Strakosch  states  that  he  "began  his  pere- 
grinations in  Europe"  and  "Mme.  Adelina  Patti  sang  first 

i  Stw  Appendix  J. 


98  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

after  her  successes"  in  the  United  Kingdom.1  The  dates 
leave  no  room  for  question  on  this  point.  She  had  been 
engaged  to  appear  at  the  Royal  Opera  House  in  Berlin  during 
the  month  of  December,  in  a  series  of  Italian  performances, 
and  the  contract  was  fulfilled  to  the  letter. 

Despite  the  unfavorable  attitude  assumed  toward  her  at 
the  outset  by  the  Prussian  press,  the  enthusiasm  of  the  public 
knew  no  bounds.  Above  all,  King  Wilhelm — the  future  victor 
of  Sedan  and  first  German  Kaiser — singled  himself  out  as 
her  especial  admirer  and  champion.  He  went  to  hear  her 
each  time  she  sang,  and  never  failed  to  congratulate  her  in 
person  before  leaving  the  theatre.  The  irresistible  Adelina 
was  to  captivate  man}-  "crowned  heads"  in  her  day,  but 
among  them  she  never  found  a  more  devoted  friend  than  the 
Emperor  "Wilhelm  I. 

As  usual,  the  Berlin  critics,  if  they  refused  to  bend  the 
knee  at  first,  ended  by  declaring  themselves  her  fervent  ad- 
mirers, and  begged  her  to  return.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  the 
opera  season  in  Berlin  had  been  rather  dull  until  her  advent, 
and  one  paper,  after  enumerating  the  various  singers  who 
had  appeared,  mentioned  "Last,  not  least,  Adelina  Patti,  the 
girlish  vocalist,  who  speedily  transported  her  English  triumphs 
here,  and  by  a  rich  combination  of  artistic  excellences  brought 
the  season  to  a  brilliant  conclusion." 

It  was  at  Berlin  that  she  first  met  Pauline  Lucca,  who  had 
achieved  a  startling  success  there  the  previous  spring.  The 
famous  Viennese  soprano,  her  senior  only  by  a  couple  of 
years,  had  been  engaged  at  the  instigation  of  Meyerbeer, 
and  was  then  studj'ing  with  him  the  role  of  Selika  in  "L'Afri- 
caine"  which  she  was  to  create  also  at  Covent  Garden  in  1865. 

Maurice  Strakosch  relates  how  he  called  upon  Pauline  Lucca 
at  her  modest  lodgings,  accompanied  by  his  sister-in-law,  and 
how  they  found  her  in  bed,  looking  very  juvenile  and  inter- 

1  "Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  p.  47. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  99 

esting.  "Her  first  word  was  an  exclamation  of  surprise  on 
beholding  Adelina  Patti — herself  a  sweet  and  adorable  crea- 
ture. 'What,'  exclaimed  Lucca,  almost  involuntarily,  'can 
you  be  the  great  Patti?'  "  The  impresario  adds  that  "The 
rivalry  between  the  two  singers  existed  only  upon  the  stage, 
for  outside  the  theatre  they  were  always  upon  the  best  terms 
of  camaraderie."  1  No  doubt.  Was  it  not  ever  thus  between 
prime  donnef 

After  Berlin  came,  in  February,  1862,  Adelina 's  debut  at 
Brussels.  Here  some  early  prejudice  had  also  to  be  over- 
come, for  Continental  critics  evidently  found  it  hard  to  believe 
that  all  the  fabulous  praise  lavished  upon  the  new  star  had 
been  wholly  justified.  One  of  them,  indeed,  went  so  far  as 
to  exhort  her  in  the  columns  of  an  important  paper  "to  come 
and  finish  her  musical  studies  at  the  Brussels  Conservatoire." 
Like  all  of  the  prejudiced  critics,  he  altered  his  tone  later  on. 
One  or  two  writers  there  were,  however,  who  indorsed  the 
public  verdict  from  the  first  and  acknowledged  that  "Mile. 
Patti  was  a  great  singer. "  2  As  a  pen-picture  of  her  at  this 
period  it  is  worth  while  to  quote  these  lines  from  the  Brussels 
Guide  Musical: 

Young,  pretty,  full  of  distinction,  nature  has  been  pleased  to 
heap  every  kind  of  favour  upon  her — a  rare  organisation,  intelli- 
gence of  the  highest  order,  and  the  most  marvellous  soprano  voice 
one  has  ever  heard ;  easy,  sweet,  pure,  seductive,  dramatic,  passion- 
ate— in  a  word,  a  voice  that  none  can  hear  without  being  profoundly 
moved  [impressionne].  As  though  its  work  were  not  complete 
enough,  nature  has  bestowed  upon  her  the  one  precious  quality 
without  which  no  operatic  artist  can  be  wholly  accomplished :  it  has 
made  her  a  grande  comedienne.  And  this  merit  is  apt  to  be  some- 
what sacrificed  at  the  present  day,  seeing  that  the  art  of  the  come- 

i  "(Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  pp.  49-50. 
2  See  Appendix  K. 


100  THE  REIGN  OF  FATTI 

dian  seems  to  be  interpreted  in  the  wrong  spirit  with  incredible  per- 
sistency by  the  majority  of  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  now  engaged 
in  the  delineation  of  the  lyric  drama. 

The  notable  assertion  that  Adelina  Patti  was  a  grande 
comedienne  at  nineteen  ought  not  to  be  passed  over  without 
some  further  consideration.  To  begin  with,  it  was  absolutely 
true.  The  Belgian  writer  did  no  more  than  echo  the  opinion 
of  most  of  those  leading  critics  who  were  acknowledged  to  be 
candid  and  unbiased  judges  of  her  talent  at  this  period  of 
her  development.  Comedy  was  then  her  forte,  and  when  at 
its  best  her  acting  in  that  particular  line  deserved  the  adjective 
grande. 

To  say  this  is  not,  however,  to  imply  that  Patti  was  yet  a 
great  actress,  even  in  the  sense  that  the  term  might  be  applied 
to  an  operatic  singer.  When  Davison  first  saw  her  as  Violetta, 
he  declared  her  to  be  '"neither  a  Lind  nor  a  Rachel."  Neither 
did  he,  in  all  probability,  expect  such  a  combination  from  a 
girl  who  was  then  only  a  trifle  over  eighteen.  Nevertheless, 
he  admired  her  because  she  was  "something  so  genuine, 
piquant,  original,  and  attractive."  He  added,  nevertheless, 
that  her  impersonation  was  more  "elaborately  finished"  than 
any  that  he  could  remember,  while  "as  a  piece  of  acting  it 
must  be  pronounced  consummate." 

Everybody  did  not  agree  with  Davison  about  her  acting  in 
serious  parts.  There  were  never  two  opinions,  however,  con- 
cerning her  extraordinary  natural  talent  as  a  comedienne; 
nor  can  there  be  any  question  that  she  had  grown,  during  the 
second  and  third  decades  of  her  career,  to  be  a  superb  all- 
round  actress.  The  important  point  is  that  the  serious  side 
of  her  histrionic  genius  took  longer  to  develop.  Those  who 
witnessed  her  early  performances  at  Covent  Garden  were 
wont  to  speak  of  flashes  of  dramatic  power  which  surprised 
and  dazzled.  Those  were  the  moments  when  she  was  capable 
of  grasping  the  more  profound  emotions  of  a  dramatic  situ- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  101 

ation ;  for  with  her  peculiar  temperament  the  ability  to  under- 
stand and  feel  apparently  engendered  the  ability  to  express. 
The  complete  understanding  of  a  tragic  role  did  not  come 
until  later  on. 

But  the  " grande  comedienne"  she  indisputably  was — first, 
last,  and  all  the  time.  From  childhood  upward,  her  sense 
of  humor,  her  spirit  of  mischief,  her  love  of  drollery  and  of 
fun,  had  been  allowed  unrestricted  sway.  To  those  qualities 
she  added  her  extraordinary  gift  of  mimicry — not  mere  talent 
for  imitation,  but  an  intuitive  faculty  for  faithfully  repro- 
ducing the  manner  or  style  characteristic  of  whatever  she 
saw  or  heard  done  by  another  person.  The  combination  en- 
abled her,  when  upon  the  stage,  especially  in  such  parts  as 
Rosina  and  Zerlina,  to  bring  out  to  the  fullest  extent  the  vis 
comica  that  had  been  born  in  her,  and  to  manifest  it  in  her 
restless,  romping  gaiety  and  delightful  by-play. 

She  possessed,  when  a  very  young  girl,  a  singularly  true 
sense  of  proportion;  moreover,  it  never  failed  her.  The 
proper  restraint  and  self-control  were  invariably  exercised 
at  the  right  moment,  and  apparently  without  need  for  fore- 
thought. Hence  the  freedom,  the  ease,  the  laisser-aller  which 
imparted  to  all  that  she  did,  both  as  singer  and  actress,  the 
character  and  the  effect  of  pure  improvisation.  No  other 
lyric  artist  that  I  have  ever  seen  possessed  this  supreme  gift 
in  anything  like  the  same  degree. 

Finally,  there  was  the  advantage  of  her  rare  command, 
when  a  comparative  child,  of  the  technique  of  the  stage. 
From  the  time  she  first  entered  upon  her  operatic  career,  she 
seemed  able  to  depict  her  various  romantic  heroines  with  an 
impulse  that  was  always  truthful,  unforced,  and  appropriate. 
Her  acting  came  to  her  as  naturally  as  her  singing.  She  could 
convey  emotions  of  every  type  with  an  expressive  force  that 
revealed  itself  alike  in  gesture,  in  facial  play,  and  in  the  most 
subtle  shades  of  vocal  nuance. 


102  THE   RE  ION  OF  FATTI 

What  she  still  needed  in  the  early  sixties  was  actual 
experience — experience  of  life,  experience  in  the  theatre. 
This,  however,  was  not  to  be  vouchsafed  her  in  adequate 
measure  until  a  few  more  years  had  passed. 

Before  returning  to  England  in  the  spring  of  1862,  Mile. 
Patti  visited  Holland,  and  was  accorded  a  splendid  reception 
at  Amsterdam  and  The  Hague.  In  the  latter  city  an  Italian 
company  was  performing  opera  under  the  management  of 
one  Merelli,  by  whom  the  latest  star  in  the  operatic  firmament 
was  courageously  engaged  at  1250  francs  (£50)  a  night. 
When,  however,  the  King  of  Holland  sent  his  chamberlain 
to  secure  her  services  for  a  concert  at  the  Royal  Falace,  Merelli 
saw  his  opportunity  and  raised  the  terms  to  3000  francs 
(£120). 

According  to  Strakosch,  this  sum  appeared  enormous  to 
the  chamberlain,  who  asked  to  be  allowed  to  think  the  matter 
over.  Ultimately,  of  course,  the  fee  had  to  be  paid ;  but  the 
same  authority  assures  us  that  "the  Dutch  Cabinet  was  sum- 
moned to  consider  the  question,  and  only  after  a  Council 
of  Ministers  had  been  held  did  the  King  accede  to  Merelli 's 
terms."  x     Se  non  e  vero,  e  ben  trovato! 

During  her  stay  at  The  Hague,  the  director  of  the  Theatre- 
Italien  in  Paris,  M.  Calzado,  despatched  a  special  envoy  to 
engage  Mile.  Patti  forthwith  for  a  few  performances.  Her 
manager  asked  the  same  terms  as  she  was  then  receiving; 
but  £50  a  night  proved  too  much  for  M.  Calzado 's  purse,  and 
he  declined  to  engage  her.  In  the  following  season  he  thought 
better  of  it,  and  the  diva  was  secured;  only  he  then  had  to 
pay  her  1500  francs  (£60)  a  night.  Twenty-five  years  later 
she  was  receiving  (on  her  American  tour)  nearly  twenty  times 
that  sum. 

When  she  sang  in  Paris  under  M.  Bagier,  Calzado 's  suc- 

1  "Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  p.  50. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  103 

cessor,  her  terms  were  again  raised,  on  a  sliding  scale  to  2000 
francs  (£80)  a  representation  for  the  first  year,  2500  francs 
(£100)  for  the  second,  and  3000  francs  (£120)  for  the  third. 
Beyond  this  figure,  as  far  as  the  French  capital  is  concerned, 
they  were  never  known  to  go.  It  is  noteworthy,  however,  that, 
owing  to  Calzado's  hesitation  in  the  first  instance,  her  debut 
in  Paris  was  deferred  for  a  whole  year. 

Strakosch  was  not  altogether  wrong  when  he  attached 
"extreme  importance  to  these  details  regarding  the  fees  paid" 
to  Adelina  Patti.  He  considered  that  "operatic  stars,  no 
matter  how  indispensable  they  might  be,  ought  to  content 
themselves  with  reasonable  terms,"  and  attributed  to  their 
exorbitant  demands  all  the  catastrophes  that  had  recently 
befallen  the  Italian  opera  houses  at  London,  Paris,  St.  Peters- 
burg, and  even  New  York.1 

At  the  same  time,  he  was  anxious  to  prove  that  one  prima 
donna  at  least  was  worth  the  high  price,  asked  for  her  per- 
formances. The  opportunity  came  when  M.  Blanc,  the  direc- 
tor of  the  Casino  at  Homburg, — the  Monte  Carlo  of  that 
day, — hesitated  to  concede  the  £120  a  night  named  by  Maurice 
Strakosch.  M.  Blanc  was  a  wealthy  man,  but  a  prudent  man- 
ager. The  auditorium  at  the  Casino  was  of  limited  size, 
and  there  was  a  chance  of  his  losing  money  by  each  repre- 
sentation.    Strakosch  made  him  an  offer. 

"If  you  like,"  said  he,  "we  will  not  fix  any  cachet  at  all. 
You  shall  charge  a  louis  for  every  seat,  and  give  Adelina 
Patti  half  the  receipts.  That  half  is  to  be  regarded  as  the 
figure  of  her  subsequent  cachets." 

M.  Blanc  thoughtfully  argued  that  the.  high  price  of  a  louis 
per  seat  would  keep  away  a  great  many  people-,  and  that 
the  fair  artist  was  very  likely  to  sing  either  for  nothing  or 
for  a  ridiculous  sum,  not  only  once,  but  on  each  succeeding 
appearance.     Strakosch,  however,  insisted,  and  M.  Blanc  duly 

i  'Souvenirg  d'un  Impresario,"  p.  52. 


104  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

aecepted  a  proposition  that  seemed  entirely  favorable  to  him. 

The  result  proved  the  exact  reverse  of  what  the  careful 
manager  had  anticipated.  The  little  theatre  was  crammed 
with  people  at  a  louis  a  head,  and  the  total  receipts  amounted 
to  £400,  half  of  which  went  to  Mile.  Patti.  She  was  after- 
ward paid  £200  each  night  she  sang;  while  M.  Blanc  had  no 
cause  for  complaint,  inasmuch  as  his  expenses  amounted  to 
£120  and  he  was  able  to  pocket  a  net  profit  of  £80.  At  the 
came  time,  he  was  paying  his  star  what  was  then  looked  upon 
as  an  enormous  fee. 

This  was  only  one  incident  out  of  many  tending  to  show 
that  Patti  was,  from  the  beginning  of  her  European  career, 
an  exception  to  the  rule  mentioned  by  her  brother-in-law. 
Instead  of  loss,  she  brought  substantial  gain  to  the  various 
managers  who  were  lucky  enough  to  secure  her.  No  matter 
how  high  the  terms  she  asked, — and  they  mounted  steadily 
year  by  year  until  they  ultimately  reached  figures  never 
before  approached  in  operatic  history, — it  could  never  be 
asserted  that  Adelina  Patti  did  not  earn  her  money,  and  even 
leave  her  manager  with  something  to  spare. 

The  subject  of  her  earnings  will  come  up  again  from  time 
to  time  in  course  of  this  volume.  The  huge  sums  that  Patti 
made  have  always  constituted  a  fascinating  topic;  for  in  this, 
as  in  many  other  respects,  her  record  is  unique.  Let  us  not, 
however,  anticipate.  The  important  fact  to  be  noted  at  this 
juncture  is  that  during  her  first  year  in  Europe  she  netted 
a  larger  amount  than  any  other  prima  donna  then  before 
the  public,  and  established  in  the  operatic  world  a  new  basis 
for  the  calculation  of  a  diva's  fees. 


CHAPTER  IX 

Opera  in  the  Great  Exhibition  Year  (1862) — The  Struggle  between  Gye 
and  Mapleson — Patti's  Reappearance  at  Covent  Garden — Revivals  of 
"Don  Pasquale"  and  "Dinorah"— Thirty-four  Patti  Nights— The  Stra- 
kosch  Plans — Debut  in  Paris — The  French  Masters  and  the  New 
Diva — Triumphs  at  Vienna — "Mobbing"  a  Prima  Donna — Hanslick's 
Prediction  and  Its  Fulfilment — First  European  "Interview" 

LONG  before  the  conclusion  of  Mile.  Patti's  first  European 
tour,  preparations  had  been  in  progress  upon  a  scale  of 
exceptional  magnitude  for  the  London  season  of  the  "Great 
Exhibition  Year"  of  1862.  Opera  was  expected,  as  a  matter 
of  course,  to  profit  hugely  by  the  abnormal  influx  of  visitors. 
The  Covent  Garden  monopoly,  already  partly  broken  down, 
was  to  end  its  brief  existence  altogether;  for  James  Henry 
Mapleson  had  succeeded  in  obtaining  a  lease  of  Her  Majesty's 
Theatre,  and  would  henceforward  be  in  a  position  to  offer 
his  powerful  rival  a  strenuous  and  effective  opposition. 

It  was  the  beginning  of  a  protracted  series  of  battles  be- 
tween the  two  impresarios.  But  of  all  their  struggles  for  su- 
premacy, their  campaigns  of  disastrous  competition  in  the  op- 
eratic field,  this  was  to  prove  the  keenest  and  most  severe. 
They  manoeuvred  for  position  with  the  skill  and  cunning  of 
two  masters  at  a  game  of  chess — each  on  the  lookout  for  a  weak 
spot  in  the  other's  opening,  each  eager  if  possible  to  possess 
himself  of  the  other's  queen.  But  the  queens  in  this  instance 
refused  to  be  moved  into  danger.  If  Mr.  Gye  could  not  con- 
trive (though  he  tried  hard)  to  win  Tietjens  from  her  alle- 
giance, Mr.  Mapleson  certainly  found  that  he  stood  no  better 
chance  of  getting  hold  of  Patti. 

An  operatic  prospectus  in  those  days  wore  the  complexion 

105 


106  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

of  a  political  manifesto.  The  language  of  the  rival  documents 
now  issued  was  of  the  most  inflated  and  pretentious  order. 
Each  manager  strove  to  outdo  the  other  in  deadly  earnestness 
and  strength  of  persuasive  eloquence.  Each  apparently  enter- 
tained a  solemn  conviction  that  the  honor  of  the  country — 
not  to  mention  the  fate  of  the  International  Exhibition — 
depended  exclusively  upon  the  prosperity  of  these  operatic 
institutions.  The  following  paragraph  from  Mr.  Gye's 
prospectus  provides  a  fair  sample: 

It  will  naturally  be  a  source  of  pride  and  gratification  to  the 
musical  amateurs  of  this  country  to  know  that  among  the  wonders 
and  sights  of  London  the  opera  will  not  suffer  by  comparison  with 
that  of  other  great  capitals,  but,  on  the  contrary,  that  the  general 
and  received  opinion  will  be  confirmed  by  our  guests  that,  whether 
the  individual  talent  of  its  members  or  the  perfection  of  its  gen- 
eral ensemble  be  considered,  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  stands  pre- 
eminent among  all  similar  establishments.  To  maintain,  therefore, 
the  reputation  of  the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  every  effort  will  assuredly 
be  directed  and  such  arrangements  made  as  will  tend  to  secure  a 
most  brilliant  season. 

Covent  Garden  opened  its  doors  in  April,  but  Mr.  Gye 
never  played  his  strong  cards  during  the  early  weeks  of  the 
season.  He  always  found  it  a  profitable  plan  to  whet  the 
appetite  of  the  public  by  keeping  back  his  principal  attrac- 
tions for  a  while.  It  was  not,  therefore,  until  May  5  that 
Mile.  Patti  made  her  appearance.  The  event  was  heralded 
with  much  fuss  and  invested  with  all  possible  attractiveness; 
but,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  opera-goers  were  simply  pining  to 
hear  their  favorite  again,  and  no  special  efforts  were  needed 
to  work  them  up  to  the  pitch  of  excitement  that  had  marked 
the  last  month  of  the  preceding  season. 

"La  Sonnambula"  was,  almost  as  a  matter  of  course,  chosen 
for  the  rentree,  the  house  being  crowded  from  floor  to  ceiling. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  107 

The  general  opinion  was  that  the  youthful  cantatrice  had 
made  more  definite  improvement  as  an  actress  than  as  a 
vocalist.  Beyond  a  slight  increase  of  volume  no  particular 
change  was  noted  in  her  voice,  though  her  singing  evoked  the 
same  intense  admiration  and  delight  as  before.  Experience, 
however,  had  wrought  a  beneficial  effect  upon  her  stage  work, 
and  the  verdict  of  the  press  generally  was  again  enthusiastic 
in  the  extreme.1 

The  extraordinary  scenes  of  the  previous  summer  were 
now  reenacted  with  undiminished  fervor.  Patti  nights  were 
once  more  the  rage,  drawing  enormous  audiences  regularly 
twice  and  sometimes  three  times  a  week.  The  same  round 
of  operas  in  steady  succession  furnished  the  bill  for  more 
than  a  couple  of  months.  Visitors  to  the  Exhibition,  nocking 
to  London  from  all  parts  of  the  world,  made  a  point  of  includ- 
ing in  their  pilgrimage  an  expensive  night  at  Covent  Garden, 
so  that  they  might  be  able  to  relate  that  they  had  seen  and 
heard  the  celebrated  Patti. 

During  May  and  June  the  chief  attraction  was  "Don 
Giovanni."  It  was  not  given  with  quite  the  same  wonderful 
cast  as  in  1861;  still,  there  were  only  two  changes — a  Mme. 
Penco  replacing  Grisi  as  Donna  Anna,  while  Ciampi  was  now 
the  Masetto  instead  of  Ronconi.  Concerning  the  Zerlina  the 
Daily  Telegraph  had  this  to  say : 

If,  to  follow  up  the  poetic  fancy  of  some  German  critic,  "Don 
Giovanni"  is  intended  to  typify  the  restless  search  for  abstract 
beauty  in  its  highest  development  of  an  enthusiast  for  art,  Mile. 
Patti's  Zerlina  may  be  taken  as  a  type  of  woman's  nature,  ever  en- 
gaged in  some  hopeless  attempt  to  reconcile  duty  with  delight. 
Never,  we  imagine,  has  the  struggle  between  the  village  maiden's 
passive  affection  for  her  boorish  bridegroom,  and  the  coquette's  ad- 
miration for  the  gallant  suitor  who  has  fascinated  her  with  his  easy 
and  condescending  grace,  been  so  truthfully  or  so  charmingly  por- 

i  See  Appendix  L. 


108  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

trayed.  Indeed,  we  doubt  if  any  impersonation  so  exquisitely  fresh, 
spontaneous,  and  natural  as  Mile.  Patti's  Zerlina  lias  ever  been  wit- 
nessed on  the  operatic  stage;  and  it  is  in  this  characteristic,  quite 
irrespectively  of  the  lady's  bright  voice  and  faultless  singing,  that 
lies  the  secret  of  its  intinile  charm. 

A  brilliant  revival  of  "Lucia"  on  June  7  was  especially 
noteworthy  for  the  debut  in  Great  Britain  of  the  famous 
German  tenor  Wachtel,  in  the  part  of  Edgar  do ;  also  the  first 
appearance  at  Covent  Garden  as  Enrico  of  the  talented  bari- 
tone Delle  Sedie — a  finished  singer  and,  in  later  years,  an  ad- 
mirable teacher.  On  July  12  Donizetti's  comic  opera,  "Don 
Pasquale,"  which  had  not  been  heard  at  this  house  for  seven 
years,  was  freshly  mounted  for  Mile.  Patti,  with  Mario  as 
Ernesto,  Delle  Sedie  as  the  Dottore,  and  Ciampi  as  Don 
Pasquale.     Of  the  new  Norina  the  Times  wrote: 

Such  Avas  the  vivacity,  such  the  intelligence,  such  (to  use  a  term 
for  which  we  have  no  English  equivalent)  the  esprit  of  her  acting, 
that  since  the  incomparable  assumption  of  Mine.  Grisi,  when  Mme. 
Grisi  was  in  her  prime,  no  such  piquant,  attractive,  and  irresistible 
Norina  has  been  witnessed.  ...  At  the  end  of  the  opera — in  place 
of  the  ordinary  finale — Mile.  Patti  introduced  a  valse  in  the  "bra- 
vura" style,  a  composition  which,  alike  elegant  and  effective,  was, 
in  the  hands  of  the  always  ready  and  versatile  young  artist,  a  singu- 
larly brilliant  display. 

A  still  greater  hit,  however,  was  that  achieved  by  Mile. 
Patti  on  August  5  in  "Dinorah."  Meyerbeer's  pastoral 
opera  had  been  made  familiar  already  to  habitues  of  the  Royal 
Italian  Opera  by  Miolan-Carvalho;  but  never  before  had  it 
been  given  with  such  a  cast  as  this : 

Dinorah Mile.  Patti. 

Una  Capraia Mme.  Rudersdorff. 

Un  Capraio Mme.  Didiee. 

Hold    .  M.  Faure  (his  original 

character). 


THE  REIGN  OF  FATTI  109 

Un  Cacciatore Signor  Tagliafico. 

Un  Mietitore Signor  Neri-Baraldi. 

Corentino Signor  Gardoni. 

It  was  too  late  in  the  season  to  reap  the  full  benefit  of 
this  success,  only  one  repetition  being  possible.  But  the  crit- 
ics, with  the  single  exception  of  Chorley  (who  had  yet  to  be 
converted),  uttered  pseans  of  praise.1  They  were  particularly 
delighted  with  the  freshness  and  originality  of  Patti  's  concep- 
tion, which  differed  almost  entirely  from  Miolan-Carvalho  's. 
Chorley  was  an  ardent  and  avowed  admirer  of  the  French 
prima  donna,  who  was  the  original  Marguerite  of  his  beloved 
"Faust,"  and  a  charming  artist  to  boot.  But  when,  two 
seasons  later,  comparisons  between  Adelina  Patti  and  Miolan- 
Carvalho  in  the  part  of  Marguerite  became  unavoidable,  there 
occurred  a  very  decided  change  in  Chorley 's  attitude  toward 
the  younger  artist.     It  will  be  referred  to  in  due  course. 

Reviews  of  the  season  of  1862  indicate  that  it  was,  from  a 
financial  standpoint,  one  of  the  most  successful  given  during 
Mr.  Gye's  regime.  For  that  epoch,  it  was  by  no  means  re- 
markable as  presenting  a  constellation  of  really  distinguished 
singers.  In  the  following  year,  indeed,  the  impresario  found 
himself  compelled  by  the  ever-increasing  competition  at  Her 
Majesty's  to  considerably  strengthen  his  ensemble.  Still,  in 
1862  Adelina  Patti  and  the  Exhibition  between  them  "did 
the  trick."  From  the  beginning  of  May  until  the  middle  of 
August  the  opera  house  on  Patti  nights  was  sold  out. 

Finally,  for  August  15  it  was  announced  that,  to  wind  up 
the  season  in  becoming  fashion,  Mile.  Patti  would  take  her 
first  "benefit"  at  Covent  Garden  and  appear  in  a  special 
programme.     It  was  thus  advertised : 

The  performance  will  consist  of  the  Great  Scene  from  Meyerbeer's 
opera  of  "Dinorah,"  in  which  Mile.  Patti  will  sing  the  celebrated 

i  See  Appendix  M. 


110  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

''Shadow"  song;  Rossini's  opera  "II  Barbiere,"  ending  with  the  Les- 
son Scene,  in  which  Mile.  Patti  will  sing  the  "Echo"  song;  and  also 
(for  the  first  and  only  time)  Bishop's  favourite  air  of  "Home,  sweet 
home." 

That  "only  time"  was  assuredly  a  master  stroke.  Had  Mr. 
Gye  limited  himself  to  saying  "first  time"  (since  for  him 
Covent  Garden  was  the  sole  temple  of  music  that  existed), 
accuracy  would  have  been  achieved  at  the  cost  of  the  merely 
banal.  But  "only  time,"  as  a  forecast  of  Adelina  Patti 's 
association  with  "Home,  sweet  home,"  was  an  exploit  the 
Micawber-like  sweep  of  which  can  only  be  appreciated  at  its 
true  value  now,  after  the  lapse  of  half-a-century.  The  "bene- 
fit" was  nevertheless  a  huge  triumph,  and  fitly  terminated  a 
season  of  even  harder  work  than  the  previous  one.  Here  are 
the  figures,  showing  in  what  operas  and  how  many  times  Mile. 
Patti  appeared,  without  counting  her  benefit : 

"Don  Giovanni" 10 

"La  Sonnambula" 8 

"II  Barbiere" 8 

"Lucia" 3 

"Don  Pasquale" 2 

"Dinorah" 2 

"La  Traviata" 1 

Total 34 

Three  months  later  a  London  morning  paper  gave  out  the 
following  announcement : 

We  are  informed  that  this  distinguished  vocalist  [Mile.  Patti]  will 
be  unable,  after  the  present  tour,  to  appear  in  the  British  provinces 
again  for  the  next  three  years,  having  made  engagements  extending 
over  the  period  for  London  and  some  of  the  leading  Continental 
cities,  which  wc  have  reason  to  believe  will  be  as  follows:     Paris, 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  111 

during  November  and  December,  1862,  and  January,  1863;  Vienna, 
February,  March,  and  April,  1863;  London,  May,  June,  and  July, 
1863;  Vienna,  September  and  October,  1863,  where  Meyerbeer's 
"Dinorah"  is  to  be  produced  for  the  first  time,  the  eminent  com- 
poser having  selected  Mile.  Patti  for  the  occasion.  For  the  season 
of  November,  December,  1863,  and  January,  1864,  the  "little  lady" 
returns  to  Paris;  and  in  February,  March,  and  April,  1864,  makes 
her  debut  at  Naples  in  a  new  opera  written  expressly  for  her  by 
Verdi,  who  will  most  probably  select  Victor  Hugo's  famous  story, 
"Esmeralda,"  for  the  subject,  a  character  admirably  suited  to  the 
dramatic  specialties  of  Mile.  Patti.  During  the  summer  season  of 
1864  she  is  again  to  form  one  of  the  company  at  the  Royal  Italian 
Opera,  Covent  Garden,  and  in  September  and  October  following  will 
appear  at  Madrid,  concluding  this  remarkable  series  of  engagements 
in  Paris  during  the  months  of  November  and  December,  1S64,  and 
January,  1865. 

Considerable  interest  is  taken  by  numerous  admirers  in  London 
in  reference  to  Mile.  Patti's  debut  at  the  Italian  Opera,  Paris,  on 
the  10th  of  November  next,  as  Amino,  in  "La  Sonnambula,"  so  much 
so  that  we  hear  of  arrangements  being  in  progress  for  an  excursion 
by  train  and  steamer,  at  «a  five-guinea  fare  there  and  back,  to  in- 
clude a  ticket  of  admission  to  the  opera  on  the  particular  night 
and  allowing  five  days  in  Paris.  We  are  inclined  to  think  that  few 
vocalists  of  the  present  day  are  likely  to  win  greater  favour  from  a 
Parisian  public  than  the  highly  gifted  Adelina  Patti. 

The  above  reads  uncommonly  like  the  outcome  of  what  to- 
day would  be  termed  an  "interview"  with  Maurice  Strakosch. 
Its  prophetic  content  was  sufficiently  extensive  for  it  to  have 
proceeded  from  the  managerial  brother-in-law,  whose  conde- 
scending touch  is  delightfully  exhibited  in  the  remark  that 
brushes  the  "British  provinces"  aside  for  a  period  of  three 
years.  Maurice  knew  how  to  faire  V article  in  the  French 
as  well  as  the  English  sense,  but  his  vaticinations  were  often 
as  inaccurate  as  his  chronicles. 

As  a  matter  of   fact,   Mile.   Patti   was   singing   again   at 


112  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Birmingham  in  the  autumn  of  1864,  as  we  shall  see;  while 
the  prediction  with  regard  to  the  new  opera  by  Verdi  was 
never  to  be  realized.  The  Italian  master  wrote  no  "Esmer- 
alda," nor  did  Mile.  Patti  ever  essay  the  character  in  any  other 
save  Fabio  Campana's  opera  of  the  same  name.  The  "excur- 
sion" idea  was  a  gem.  At  five  guineas  a  head,  includ- 
ing a  stall  at  the  opera  to  hear  Patti,  it  might  almost  have 
been  considered  cheap. 

Great  was  the  sensation  aroused  in  Paris  by  the  long- 
deferred  first  appearance  of  Adelina  Patti.  Her  visit  began 
in  November,  1862,  and  lasted  until  the  following  February. 
The  furore  started  with  her  debut  in  the  inevitable  "Sonnam- 
bula";  it  rose  gradually  to  fever-heat,  and  it  never  once  cooled 
until  after  her  " benefit "  in  "Don  Giovanni."  When  she 
had  been  in  the  French  capital  a  fortnight  the  correspondent 
of  a  leading  London  paper  wrote:  "About  Mile.  Patti 's 
position  in  Paris  there  can  no  longer  be  a  question.  She  is 
adopted  with  one  voice,  and  is  the  chief  topic  of  conver- 
sation in  every  circle." 

The  Emperor  and  Empress  of  the  French  took  a  particular 
fancy  to  the  youthful  diva,  and  honored  her  by  going  six 
times  to  the  Theatre  des  Italiens  daring  her  stay.  On  the 
benefit  night  they  invited  her  to  come  to  the  Imperial  loge, 
and  presented  her  with  a  magnificent  bracelet  of  diamonds 
and  emeralds.  So  great  was  the  crush  at  that  performance 
that  collisions  between  the  crowds  and  the  police  occurred  in 
the  surrounding  streets.  Stalls  easily  fetched  anything  from 
100  to  200  francs  apiece — a  high  price  in  those  days. 

The  famous  masters  of  that  golden  period  of  French  musical 
art  vied  with  one  another  in  their  compliments.  Berlioz, 
Auber,  and  Gounod  were  especially  captivated  by  the  "dcli- 
cieuse  cantatrice."  The  impulsive  Hector  wrote  in  one  of  his 
Avis  mix  lecteurs:     "Do  you  wish  to  see  charm  united  with 


IN    PARIS,    1862 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  113 

naivete,  naturalness  with  grace  ? — the  goddess  of  youth,  Hebe 
in  person  ?  If  so,  go  to  the  Theatre-Italien  on  the  nights  when 
Mile.  Patti  sings!" 

The  composer  of  "Les  Diamants  de  la  Couronne"  (in  which 
opera  she  was  to  find  one  of  her  most  graceful  roles)  uttered 
a  charming  mot  on  the  night  of  her  debut.  Asked  his  opinion 
of  her,  Auber  replied:  "I  was  twenty  years  old  throughout 
the  entire  performance,  which  is  exactly  sixty  years  less  than 
the  truth." 

Gounod  asked  her  to  persuade  Mr.  Gye  to  mount  "Faust" 
at  Covent  Garden  (it  was  done  in  the  following  season,  though 
not  until  after  Mr.  Mapleson  had  produced  it  at  Her  Maj- 
esty's), and  added:  "I  can  conceive  no  more  ideal  Marguerite 
than  you  will  make." 

After  Paris,  Vienna.  It  was  on  February  28,  1863, — a 
few  days  after  her  twentieth  birthday, — that  she  made  her 
initial  courtesy  at  the  Karl  Theater  in  the  part  of  Amina, 
and  abundantly  verified  the  expectations  of  a  public  that  had 
waited  for  her  impatiently  for  a  year  and  a  half.  The  season 
in  the  Austrian  capital  was  under  the  direction  of  Merelli, 
the  impresario  of  her  earlier  visits  to  Holland  and  Germany. 
He  now  paid  her  £80  a  performance,  and  the  success  of  his 
Viennese  venture  may  be  gathered  from  the  fact  that  on  the 
termination  of  his  two  months'  season  he  pocketed  a  net 
profit  of  £4000. 

Nothing  like  it  had  ever  happened  in  the  operatic  annals 
of  the  gay  city  on  the  Danube.1  Certainly  no  event  was  so 
vividly  recalled  there  for  years  as  the  debut  of  the  now  world- 
renowned  Patti.  A  circumstance  that  added  to  the  brilliancy 
of  the  occasion  was  the  fact  that  her  Elvino  was  the  great 
tenor  Giuglini.  It  was  the  first  time  that  the  two  famous  ar- 
tists had  sung  together;  and,  although  Giuglini 's  voice  was 

i  See  Appendix  N,  letter  of  Dr.  Julius  Wagner. 


114  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

getting  rather  worn,  he  was  still  wonderful  enough  to  be  a 
lit  ting  companion  for  his  juvenile  partner.  Between  them 
the}'  raised  a  tempest  of  applause  the  echoes  of  which  re- 
sounded in  every  corner  of  Europe. 

The  audience  appear  to  have  fairly  lost  their  heads.  A 
French  critic,  who  had  just  previously  witnessed  some  of 
the  unprecedented  scenes  in  Paris,  wrote  that  they  were  left 
far  behind  by  the  veritable  fanatisma  which  broke  out  in  the 
Karl  Theatre  on  that  February  night.  "The  public  seemed 
fascinated;  the  soiree  was,  for  'la  divina  Patti,'  one  long  and 
noisy  ovation.  Recalls,  encores,  wreaths,  every  manifestation 
of  delight  pushed  to  the  farthest  extreme,  were  lavished  upon 
her."     The  Viennese  press  was  no  less  demonstrative. 

The  excitement  gradually  pervaded  the  entire  community. 
Large  crowds  used  to  wait  for  the  hubsche  Sangerin  and 
follow  her  wherever  she  went.  Indeed,  their  desire  to  get  near 
her  was  so  uncontrollable  that  one  day  she  had  a  narrow 
escape  from  being  injured.  A  foreign  lady  residing  in  Vienna 
told  the  story  in  a  letter,  from  which  the  following  is  an 

extract : 

Vienna,  April  9,  1863. 

Mile.  Patti  sang  on  Sunday,  at  eleven  o'clock,  at  the  Augustiner- 
kirche,  in  the  chorus  of  the  Mass.  Such  crowds  had  forced  their 
way  into  the  church,  at  an  early  hour,  that  several  persons  fainted, 
and  had  to  be  carried  out.  During  the  service,  too,  a  countless  mul- 
titude assembled  before  the  Augustinergasse,  to  await  the  moment 
when  the  celebrated  singer  should  come  out,  and  proceed  to  her 
carriage,  which  was  waiting  near  at  hand. 

Scarcely  had  she  made  her  appearance  at  the  door,  when  the  ex- 
pectant crowd  gathered  round  her  with  enthusiastic  cheers,  and  so 
overwhelmed  her  with  marks  of  their  admiration,  that  the  terrified 
girl,  half  fainting,  and  with  imploring  mien,  strove  to  escape. 
While  she  was  making  the  attempt,  the  friends  who  accompanied 
her  were  forced  from  her  side,  and  thus  nothing  remained  for  her  to 
do  but  to  flee  into  the  nearest  house,  the  hotel  of  Prince  Palffy. 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  115 

Fortunately,  the  maid  of  the  Countess  Ferrariz  Zichi,  who  resides 
in  the  hotel,  had  beheld  the  whole  scene  from  the  windows.  Hurry- 
ing to  meet  the  affrighted  artist  on  the  steps,  she  opened  the  door 
of  the  corridor,  and,  quickly  closing  it  again,  led  Mile.  Patti  into 
the  apartments  of  the  Countess. 

But  the  enthusiastic  crowd  had  followed  close  upon  the  heels  of 
the  fair  artist,  and,  running  wildly  up  and  down  the  steps,  very 
nearly  forced  open  the  door.  The  mistress  of  the  mansion,  the 
Princess  Palffy,  was  at  last  obliged  to  make  her  appearance,  and 
her  impressive  words  of  warning  finally  succeeded  in  prevailing  upon 
the  ungallant  multitude  to  retire  in  an  orderly  manner. 

Meanwhile  Mile.  Patti  was  conducted  into  the  drawing-room, 
where,  thanks  to  the  hospitable  attention  of  the  Countess's  family, 
she  recovered  so  far,  after  a  short  time,  from  the  unexpected  and 
boisterous  homage  paid  her,  that  her  friends  and  attendants,  who 
had  hastened  to  rejoin  her,  were  able  to  convey  her  without  further 
risk  to  her  carriage,  and  drive  home. 

Such,  attentions,  novel  as  they  must  have  been  at  that  time, 
were  by  no  means  of  uncommon  occurrence  in  the  later  career 
of  the  artist,  albeit  they  seldom  grew  quite  so  unpleasant, 
for  the  reason  that  after  this  better  precautions  were  taken 
to  protect  her  from  being  mobbed  by  over-demonstrative 
crowds.  The  experience  here  related  provided  a  salutary 
lesson  and  one  that  was  not  quickty  forgotten. 

The  "crowned  heads"  were  nearly  as  obtrusive  as  the 
crowds.  Wherever  she  went  they  sought  to  bask  in  the  sun- 
shine of  her  presence.  Following  the  example  of  his  cousin 
William  the  First  of  Prussia,  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph 
took  particular  care  never  to  miss  a  Patti  performance.  He 
would  sit,  sometimes  in  the  large  Imperial  box  facing  the  stage, 
sometimes  in  a  smaller  box  at  the  side,  and  at  least  once  each 
evening  he  would  go  behind  the  scenes  to  visit  the  youthful 
artist  and  offer  his  congratulations.  He  also  conferred  upon 
her  an  order  set  in  brilliants,  which  she  liked  better  than 
the  compliments.     Adelina  naturally  prized  that  sort  of  thing, 


116  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

and  the  time  was  to  come  when  she  would  possess  a  large  col- 
Lection  of  royal  decorations. 

.Mention  has  already  been  made  of  her  friendship  with  Dr. 
Eduard  Hanslick,  the  famous  Viennese  critic.  It  dated  from 
this  visit.  From  the  first  he  formed  a  very  exalted  estimate 
of  her  talents,  and  foretold  for  her  career  an  even  greater 
future  than  she  had  so  far  achieved.  Although  "a  man  with 
prejudices,"  Hanslick  made  no  mistake  in  this  instance.  He 
expressed  the  opinion  that  one  day  she  would  be  a  remarkable 
actress  as  well  as  a  great  singer.  Eleven  years  later,  in  his 
book,  "Die  Moderne  Oper,"  he  wrote  an  essay  on  Meyerbeer, 
in  course  of  which  there  occurs  a  singularly  interesting  study 
of  Patti's  Dinorah.1  Here  he  carries  his  prediction  a  point 
farther,  for  he  thinks  "she  will  remain  the  last  great  singer 
who,  after  being  reared  in  the  severe  school  of  Rossinian 
virtuosity  and  Bellinian  bel  canto  and  there  equipped  for  the 
highest  achievements  of  Italian  vocal  art,  yet  turned  to  the 
performance  of  modern  dramatic  tasks." 

Those  words  were  written  in  1874.  But  even  then  the 
world  was  not  prepared  to  regard  Adelina  Patti  as  an  ideal 
interpreter  of  dramatic  roles;  and  perhaps  the  world  at  that 
moment  was  right.  Her  acting  was  ever  advancing  to  a  higher 
level,  but  it  was  still  only  in  her  lighter  parts  that  it  could 
be  considered  on  a  par  with  her  supreme  art  as  a  singer. 
Another  two  years,  however,  were  to  see  the  complete  fulfil- 
ment of  at  any  rate  that  part  of  Hanslick 's  opinion  which 
he  expressed  when  she  first  went  to  Vienna.  The  revelation 
came  in  1876  with  the  production  of  "Aida"  and  her  creation 
of  the  title-role  at  Covent  Garden.  Without  anticipating  the 
story  of  that  performance  (which  the  present  writer  wit- 
nessed), it  may  be  said  here  that  in  the  part  of  Aida  Patti's 
genius  for  the  stage  stood  in  a  new  light.  She  had  done 
nothing  at  all  like  it  before. 

i  See  Appendix  O. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  117 

It  showed  an  astounding  development  of  picturesque  force, 
of  declamatory  and  histrionic  power,  punctuated  by  moments 
of  real  tragic  intensity.  It  unfolded  hitherto  latent  capacity 
for  the  delineation  of  passion,  grief,  and  despair.  It  denoted 
a  transition  not  less  extraordinary,  in  its  way,  than  that 
marked  by  the  opera  itself  in  the  change  from  Verdi 's  second 
to  his  third  "manner" — a  musical  advance  that  was  to  cul- 
minate in  the  twentieth-century  school  of  Young  Italy.  So 
the  artist  went  forward  with  the  composer.  In  his  onward 
march  he  was  to  have  the  cooperation  of  the  last  lineal  descend- 
ant of  Catalani,  Pasta,  and  Grisi. 

And  thus  the  whole  of  Hanslick's  prophecy  came  true,  for 
with  Patti  the  royal  line  of  "great  singers"  ended.  She  has 
had  no  successor ! 

It  was  during  her  Continental  tour  of  1862-63  that  she  fur- 
nished material  for  the  first  interview  with  a  prima  donna 
ever  published  in  a  European  newspaper.  The  methods  of 
the  American  interviewer  were  then  comparatively  unknown 
in  Europe.  Strangely  enough,  the  innovation  did  not  come 
to  London  direct,  but  arrived  by  way  of  Paris.  It  appeared 
first  in  the  Figaro  early  in  February,  1863,  and  a  trans- 
lation duly  appeared  in  the  Musical  World,  whose  editor 
seems  to  have  regarded  it  as  a  welcome  novelty.  The  text 
of  the  brief  dialogue  is  appended — with  some  apology  for  its 
naivete.  An  American  journalist  of  to-day  would,  of  course, 
have  contrived  to  make  better  "copy"  of  it: 

"Patti!"  exclaims  the  Parisian  Figaro.  You  are  introduced  to 
Patti,  and  find  that  she  is  a  little  girl  of  nineteen,  who  looks  four- 
teen— a  child  who  might  have  a  doll  and  know  nothing  of  life.  "Do 
you  ever  read  the  newspapers'?" 

"No;  I  never  see  them,"  she  replies.  "If  there  is  anything  nice, 
my  brother-in-law  reads  it  to  me.     If  not,  I  don't  hear  of  it." 

"What  do  you  read,  then1?" 


118  THE  EEIGN  OF  PATTI 

"Thackeray,  Dickens — nearly  all  the  English  authors." 

"Do  you  like  Paris?" 

"Yes,  but  I  like  London  better.  The  French  are  changeable,  I  am 
told;  whereas  the  English — " 

"Well?" 

"When  they  have  taken  a  liking  to  you  it  lasts  for  ever.  I  was 
much  quieter  in  London ;  and  if  you  only  knew  how  fond  I  am  of 
quiet.     Here  people  talk  so  fast  and  so  much,  it  confuses  me." 

"How  can  that  confuse  you? — you  who  can  speak  English,  French, 
Italian,  and  Spanish  equally  well?" 

"Not  being  accustomed  to  it,  I  suppose." 

"But  how  do  you  amuse  yourself  in  London?" 

"I  talk  to  Miss  Alice,  who  is  always  with  me."  1 

"Well,  Miss  Alice  is  in  Paris  now,  and  is  going  with  you  to 
Vienna." 

"Certainly;  but—" 

"I  suppose  you  do  not  feel  at  home;  that  is  what  annoys  you?" 

"Exactly  so." 

"Shall  you  sing  much  at  Vienna?" 

"I  don't  know." 

"How  is  that?     Don't  you  know  what  your  engagements  are?" 

"No;  I  never  know.  My  papa  arranges  everything.  As  for  me, 
they  tell  me  I  must  start,  and  i  start;  they  tell  me  to  sing,  and  I 
sing." 

"And  Italy,  when  are  you  going  there?  It  is  not  its  fault  that 
it  is  not  your  native  land." 

"Oh,  I  am  very  sorry  I  have  not  been  there  already.  I  shall  be 
delighted  to  see  Italy." 

"And  you  also,  shall  you  not,  Miss  Alice?" 

"Miss  Alice"  (says  Figaro)  blushes,  her  blue  eyes  turn  pale  (!), 
then  a  smile  appears  on  her  face,  thirty-two  teeth  glitter  between 
her  lips,  and  she  murmurs  (at  last),  "Oh,  yes,  sir!"  And  the  inter- 
view ends. 

Then  adds  the  Musical  World: 

The  above  mode  of  depicting  the  character  of  the  great  singer  of 

1  ".Miss  Alice"  was  her  demoiselle  de  compagnie. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  119 

the  day  through  an  ordinary  conversation,  well  arranged,  appears 
to  us  an  immense  improvement  on  the  old-fashioned  memoir.  The 
Figaro's  dialogue  gives  a  much  better  notion  of  what  Mile.  Patti 
is  really  like  than  any  of  Mr.  Silvy's  photographs.  In  future,  when 
this  method  has  become  generally  known,  ladies  of  celebrity,  instead 
of  being  asked  to  sit  for  their  portraits  to  photographers,  will  be 
asked  to  talk  for  their  portraits  to  writers,  and  the  great  art  will 
be  to  make  them  talk  characteristically  and  well,  as  in  photography 
the  great  art  is  to  get  them  into  a  good,  characteristic  pose. 

It  may  be  open  to  question,  nevertheless,  whether  the  fore- 
going provides  an  absolutely  reliable  pen-picture  of  Adelina 
at  this  period  of  her  existence.  Were  it  so,  it  would  certainly 
not  afford  a  very  flattering  glimpse  of  her  mentality  or  her 
conversational  powers  at  the  age  of  twenty.  The  probabil- 
ities are  that  she  had  been  warned  to  say  as  little  as  possible 
"for  publication."  For  she  was  now  a  girl  no  longer,  but 
a  full-grown  woman,  capable  of  thinking,  feeling,  and  acting 
with  a  sense  of  responsibility.  She  might  still  indulge  in 
the  whims  and  caprices  of  a  girl.  She  was  always  to  indulge 
them,  more  or  less,  when  she  cared.  But  there  was  nothing 
redolent  of  the  child  about  them  now ;  nor  were  they  allowed 
to  interfere  with  the  convenances  of  the  theatre,  where  les 
affaires  sont  les  affaires. 

The  reader  is  fairly  entitled  to  ask,  therefore,  what  Adelina 
Patti  was  really  like  at  this  time — not  as  she  appeared  to 
a  casual  visitor  at  a  Parisian  hotel,  but  as  she  was  in  her  home 
life,  or  so  much  of  home  as  she  could  be  said  actually  to 
enjoy  amid  the  exigencies  of  a  professional  career  that  kept 
her  almost  constantly  "on  the  move."  Well,  certain  facts 
and  details  are  available,  and  they  are  worth  setting  forth 
<xt  the  beginning  of  another  chapter. 


CHAPTER  X 

Adelina  Patti's  Home  Life  at  Clapham  ( 1863-68)— The  Secret  of  Her 
Perennial  Youth — The  Study  of  Health  and  Art — Regular  Habits — 
Avoidance  of  Rehearsals;  Her  Substitute — Daily  Vocal  Practice — Her 
First  Sweetheart — The  Gossip  of  Friiulein  Lauw — Revenge  in  the 
Court  of  Chancery — Adelina  an  Unwilling  Plaintiff;  an  Interesting 
Affidavit — Failure  of  a  Mean  Trick — Renewed  Triumphs  at  Covent 
Garden  and  an  Artistic  Advance — Chorley  and  the  Rossinian  Em- 
bellishments— Four  New  Characters — The  Season's  Harvest 

THE  real  beginning  of  Patti's  home  life  in  England  must 
be  dated  from  her  return  to  London — after  her  tri- 
umphal visit  to  Vienna — for  the  season  of  1863.  An  intimate 
friend  had  advised  the  family  not  to  stay  at  a  hotel  in  town, 
but  to  live  in  one  of  the  suburbs.  The  "family" — which  now 
included,  in  addition  to  "Papa"  and  "Maurice,"  a  German 
demoiselle  de  compagnie  of  whom  we  shall  have  something  to 
say  directly — accepted  the  advice  and  took,  to  begin  with,  part 
of  a  house  at  22  High  Street,  Clapham.  There  they  formed 
a  simple  but  comfortable  menage. 

It  should  be  noted  that  Adelina 's  mother  never  came  to 
England.  Mme.  Barili-Patti,  as  she  was  generally  called,  at 
about  this  period,  left  New  York  and  returned  to  her  native 
city,  Rome,  where  she  settled  down  and  remained  until  she 
died  some  few  years  later.  Her  part  in  this  story  is  prac- 
tically limited  to  the  dramatic  prologue  in  which  she  enacted 
a  role  of  such  supreme  importance.  Pier  influence  over  her 
famous  daughter  did  not  extend  beyond  early  childhood,  and 
in  some  measure — indirectly,  perhaps,  rather  than  otherwise 
— as  one  of  the  models  whom  the  tiny  singer  had  sought  to 
imitate.     For  she  undoubtedly  heard  her  mother  in  New  York 

120 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  121 

in  several  of  her  operas,  though  not  for  long.  It  used  to  be 
said  that  Mme.  Barili-Patti  's  voice  had  never  survived  the 
strain  of  the  "Norma"  performance  in  which  she  sang  on 
the  night  that  Adelina  was  born.  But  the  statement  was  not 
true.  What  is  beyond  question,  however,  is  that  the  mother 
and  daughter  saw  very  little  of  each  other  in  after  years. 

To  return  to  Clapham.  The  menage  remained  at  High 
Street  only  until  the  end  of  the  season.  They  had  fallen  in 
love  with  the  neighborhood,  but  they  required  more  room, 
and  if  possible,  a  big  garden.  Both  were  found  for  them  by 
the  same  intimate  friend,  and  less  than  half-a-mile  away. 
The  new  place  (which  they  took  for  three  months  every  season 
for  five  years,  beginning  in  1864)  was  known  as  Pierrepoint 
House,  and  situated  in  Atkins'  Road,  Clapham  Park.  It  stood 
in  a  secluded  spot — a  quaint,  old-world  "haven  of  rest,"  with 
a  spacious  garden,  a  lawn,  some  spreading  trees — a  veritable 
paradise  where  feathered  songsters  of  every  English  tribe 
might  gather  in  the  spring  of  the  year  to  greet  their  new 
queen. 

Clapham  in  1863  was  very  different  from  the  Clapham  we 
know  to-day.  It  was  sufficiently  near  the  metropolis  to  be 
called  a  suburb;  yet,  like  any  spot  that  was  half-an-hour's 
drive  from  Charing  Cross,  it  was  far  enough  away  to  be 
described  as  "out  of  town."  The  railway  had  barely  begun 
to  invade  its  privacy;  there  were  as  yet  no  trams,  no  tubes, 
no  motor-omnibuses — no  public  vehicles,  in  fact,  but  the  four- 
horse  bus  that  used  to  make  the  journey  to  and  from  the 
City  or  Regent  Street  four  times  a  day.  There  was  no  noise 
save  the  crack  of  the  driver's  whip,  the  occasional  rattle  of 
carriage  and  coach  wheels,  the  (fortunately)  still  rarer  blast 
of  the  mail-guard's  horn.  Clapham  Park  could  still  boast 
something  of  the  character  of  a  real  park,  while  the  neigh- 
boring common  harbored  nothing  noisier  than  nursemaids, 
babies,  and  cricketers. 


122  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  fresh  air  and  remote  tranquillity  of  this  suburban  re- 
treat  amply  compensated,  in  the  minds  of  the  Patti  house- 
hold, for  the  rather  long-  drive  to  and  from  Covent  Garden. 
At  the  moment  when  we  cast  a  discreet  glance  behind  the 
domestic  veil  it  was  the  spring  of  the  year  1863,  and  the 
Clapham  gardens  were  making  ready  to  put  on  their  summer 
attire.  Our  heroine  had  already  learned  to  appreciate  the 
simple  beauties  of  an  English  home.  She  revelled  in  the  open 
air  and  the  quiet  charm  of  the  place,  and  it  was  here  that  she 
first  acquired  her  taste  for  such  enjoyments  after  the  bustle 
of  travelling  and  the  strenuous  work  of  the  opera  house. 

A  more  placid  existence  than  that  which  Mile.  Patti  led  it 
would  have  been  unreasonable  for  a  prima  donna  to  demand. 
Weather  permitting,  she  went  out  riding  or  else  strolled  in 
the  garden  every  morning,  taking  just  as  much  exercise  as 
was  good  for  her.1  She  did  her  chief  vocal  practising  early, 
soon  after  the  petit  dejeuner,  before  going  out.  She  had  a 
healthy  appetite,  took  her  meals  regularly,  slept  well — in  short, 
led  the  most  healthful  life  imaginable,  and  never  knew  what 
it  was  to  have  a  day's  illness. 

With  her  strong  constitution  and  hardy  physique,  it  was 
natural  that  her  voice  should  continue  to  grow  in  volume  and 
power.  Yet  at  this  time  she  seemed  very  little  older  in 
appearance  than  when  she  first  went  to  England.  A  close 
friend  who  knew  her  during  the  Clapham  period  once  told 
the  writer  that  "she  had  not  changed  a  bit,  but  looked  and 
acted  as  much  like  a  girl  in  her  teens  as  ever."  Had  she 
already  acquired  her  wonderful  secret  of  remaining  young? 
Perhaps.  Or  was  it  not  rather  no  secret  at  all,  but  the  com- 
bined outcome  of  the  various  conditions  and  attributes  here 

i  She  was  very  fond  of  riding.  She  had  taken  lessons  and  become  an 
excellent  horsewoman ;  but  after  her  first  marriage  she  was  no  longer 
allowed  to  indulge  in  this  energetic  pastime. 


THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI  123 

enumerated,  like  the  fostering  influences  that  go  to  the  cre- 
ation of  the  queen  bee  ?  One  thing  is  certain :  she  herself  did 
not  know. 

No  artist  of  the  theatre  (with  the  exception,  maybe,  of 
Sarah  Bernhardt)  was  ever  asked  so  frequently  if  she  could 
describe  her  elixir  or  write  down  her  recipe  for  preserving 
a  youthful  aspect  long  after  the  age  when  most  women  begin 
to  look  old.  Of  course,  she  always  denied  that  there  was  any 
such  thing,  and  therein  told  the  honest  truth.  But  in  search- 
ing for  the  real  cause  she  often  omitted  to  lay  sufficient  stress 
on  the  beneficial  effect  of  her  "simple  life"  at  Clapham.  She 
would  try  to  account  for  it  (just  to  satisfy  her  questioners) 
in  all  sorts  of  ways.  Once  she  told  a  Parisian  interviewer 
that  the  principal  reason,  in  her  opinion,  lay  in  "her  com- 
paratively strict  mode  of  living  after  she  had  passed  the  age 
of   forty!"1 

"Up  to  forty,"  she  said,  "I  stinted  myself  in  nothing.  I 
ate  and  lived  as  I  chose.  After  forty,  however,  I  became  more 
strict.  Since  then  I  eat  no  red  meat  and  drink  only  white 
wine  and  soda.  When  I  feel  weak,  a  glass  of  champagne 
picks  me  up.  I  never  touch  spirits  or  liqueurs.  My  diet  con- 
sists of  light  food  and  white  meat  and  vegetables.  I  always 
sleep  with  the  window  wide  open  in  summer  and  partly  open 
in  winter,  so  as  not  to  get  the  cold  air  straight  on  my  face. 
I  never  get  to  bed  early,  hardly  ever  before  half-past  twelve 
or  one.  A  severe  hygiene  and  an  elaborate  toilet  before  bed 
are  absolutely  necessary  to  any  woman  who  does  not  want  to 
get  fat.     That  is  my  only  secret  of  health. ' ' 

So  much  for  the  gastronomic  and  hygienic  explanation.  It 
was  no  doubt  correct,  as  far  as  it  went;  but  it  scarcely  went 
far  enough.  The  illustrious  singer,  to  be  quite  fair  to  her- 
self and  her  early  guardians,  ought  to  have  made  reference 

i  From  the  Echo  de  Pwris,  May  21,  1907, 


124  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

to  her  consistently  regular  life  when  a  young  girl,  to  her  quiet, 
peaceful  existence  at  the  Clapham  villa — above  all,  to  the 
extraordinary  care  that  had  always  been  exercised  to  spare 
her  unnecessary  or  excessive  fatigue  and  every  description 
of  mental  worry  or  annoyance.  Of  the  latter  kind  only  one 
instance,  during  the  epoch  now  under  review,  is  known  to 
have  occurred  wherein  her  sensibilities  might  have  been  pained 
(though  it  is  not  altogether  sure  that  they  were).  To  that 
incident  we  shall  come  presently. 

"There  is  a  divinity  doth  hedge  a" — diva;  and,  from  the 
time  she  won  the  title,  Patti  enjoyed  its  full  rights  and  priv- 
ileges, in  private  no  less  than  in  public  life.  Never  did  prima 
donna  encounter  richer  opportunities  for  enjoying  the  good 
things  of  this  world,  or  indulge  in  them  more  discreetly,  more 
sparingly. 

While  living  at  Clapham  she  completed  her  education, 
which,  as  we  are  aware,  had  been  somewhat  neglected  during 
her  busy  childhood.  Impelled  by  keen  desire  for  knowledge, 
she  gladly  seized  every  chance  to  study  and  learn.  She 
improved  not  only  her  language,  but  her  technical  musician- 
ship, where  there  was  also  lost  ground  to  be  made  up.  (The 
latter  purpose  was  never  wholly  accomplished,  for  she  was 
not  able  to  read  music  at  sight  more  than  tolerably  well, 
nor  to  play  the  piano  with  facility.)  She  read  a  good  deal, 
and  it  may  be  noted  to  her  credit  that  she  cared  only  for 
good  fiction.  Nor  did  she  omit  to  make  herself  acquainted 
with  the  history  of  her  art ;  for  she  had  begun  to  realize 
that  she  was  destined  to  fill  an  exalted  position  in  its  highest 
lyric  sphere. 

She  remained  withal  the  same  high-spirited,  happy  Adelina 
— bright  and  lively  in  temperament,  unassuming  and  un- 
affected in  manner,  brimful  of  sparkling  humor — that  she 
had  been  ever  since  she  cried  for  her  dolls  and  stood  upon 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  125 

a  table  on  the  platform  of  Tripler's  Hall.  She  was  happy, 
and  had  nothing  to  do  but  enjoy  life. 

Another  point:  she  was  almost  always  relieved  of  one  of 
the  most  irksome  and  fatiguing  duties  incidental  to  the  work 
of  a  prima  donna — that  of  rehearsing  familiar  operas.  She 
owed  this  to  the  adroitness  and  foresight  of  Maurice  Strakosch, 
who  perceived  what  an  immense  advantage  there  would  be 
in  warding  off  a  large  amount  of  physical  exertion,  provided 
the  same  artistic  result  were  attained.  He  arrived  at  it  by 
a  simple  expedient.  He  took  her  place  at  rehearsal  himself. 
And  why  not?  As  her  "coach,"  no  one  knew  better  than 
he  exactly  what  she  was  going  to  do;  and  he  was  perfectly 
capable  of  going  through  the  entire  opera  in  the  precise  man- 
ner that  Adelina  would  sing  and  enact  it  at  night.  So  it 
came  about  that  he  was  everywhere  accepted  as  her  substitute 
at  all  but  formal  dress  rehearsals. 

This  arrangement  enabled  her  to  appear,  if  necessary,  on 
three  evenings  a  week  without  experiencing  undue  fatigue. 
She  did  so,  for  instance,  when  singing  at  Vienna  in  1863. 
But,  in  order  to  preserve  her  strength,  she  then  accepted  no 
invitations  to  go  into  society;  at  which  society  grumbled 
loudly,  and  of  course  held  Maurice  Strakosch  responsible. 
The  Viennese  public  knew  that  he  acted  as  her  substitute  at 
rehearsals,  that  he  transacted  all  her  business,  that  he  was, 
so  to  speak,  the  buffer  that  prevented  her  being  brought  into 
contact  with  the  oi  polloi  of  the  Austrian  capital;  and  it 
did  not  take  long  for  the  fact  to  become  regarded  as  an 
amusing  joke. 

Indeed,  Mr.  Sutherland  Edwards  tells  us1  that  "a  piece 
was  brought  out  at  one  of  the  Viennese  minor  theatres  called 
"Adelina  and  Her  Brother-in-Law,"  in  which  Strakosch  was 
represented  as  impersonating  her  on  all  possible  and  impos- 

i  "The  Prima  Donna,"  by  H.  Sutherland  Edwards,  Vol.  II,  p.  87, 


126  THE  REIG^OF  PATTI 

sible  occasions.  A  visitor  called  to  see  Adelina,  and  was  told 
that  she  was  not  at  home,  but  that  Mr.  Strakosch  would  re- 
ceive him.  A  photographer  wished  to  take  Adelina 's  por- 
trait: 'She  cannot  sit,'  replies  Strakosch,  'but  I  shall  be 
happy  to  replace  her.'  At  last  an  infatuated  admirer  pre- 
sented himself,  bent  on  making  Adelina  a  declaration  of  love ! 
'She  is  too  much  engaged  to  listen  to  you,'  replied  the  Stra- 
kosch of  the  farce;  'but  anything  you  may  have  to  say  can  be 
addressed  to  me.'  " 

Such  devices  as  those  planned  by  Strakosch  for  sparing 
Adelina  avoidable  labor  wore  probably  unique.  They  would 
naturally  be  out  of  the  question  under  the  conditions  imposed 
by  modern  opera.  As  it  was,  they  did  not  please  Costa,  who 
was  a  martinet  in  the  enforcement  of  musical  discipline, 
though  he  had  to  give  way  where  the  diva  was  concerned. 
Happily,  no  other  prima  donna  thought  of  asking  for  the  same 
privilege.  Thus  it  never  came  to  be  regarded  as  a  precedent ; 
and,  indeed,  a  substitute  at  rehearsal  is  in  most  eases  a  wholly 
unreliable  guide  to  the  intentions  of  the  principal,  and  is  con- 
sequently a  hindrance  rather  than  a  help  to  the  smooth  work- 
ing of  the  ensemble. 

Nothing  was  allowed  to  interfere  with  the  clockwork  reg- 
ularity of  Mile.  Patti's  domestic  existence  generally  and  of 
her  precious  morning  occupations  in  particular.  It  was  in 
the  forenoon  that  she  really  worked  ;  and,  no  matter  what  roles 
she  might  have  to  prepare,  she  always  began  practice  with 
her  scales,  trills,  cadenzas,  or  other  technical  exercises. 
Neither  then  nor  later  in  life  would  she  allow  a  day  to  pass 
without  practice,  if  she  could  help  it.  As  at  Clapham  in 
the  sixties,  as  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  in  the  nineties  (and  for 
the  latter  the  writer  can  personally  vouch),  she  thought  it 
absolutely  incumbent  upon  her  to  sing  her  scales  every 
morning. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTl  127 

Only  on  the  days  when  she  was  to  appear  at  the  opera 
did  she  restrict  her  vocal  study  to  twenty  minutes  or  half-an- 
hour.  Then  visitors  were  not  received,  and  in  the  afternoon 
she  would  rest.  After  a  light  meal  at  about  five  o'clock,  she 
drove  to  Covent  Garden,  and  ate  no  more  until  she  returned 
home  after  the  performance.  On  other  days  she  went  out 
walking  or  driving,  as  the  weather  permitted,  and  received 
her  friends  at  tea-time.  When  they  came  to  dinner  there  was 
sometimes  music  afterward,  but  as  a  rule  she  was  in  bed  by 
a  tolerably  early  hour.  The  Pattis  went  out  very  little. 
They  had  only  a  few  intimate  friends.  Plenty  of  people 
sought  to  make  their  acquaintance,  but  the  male  guardians 
of  the  establishment  were  extremely  particular,  especially  as 
to  the  young  men  whom  they  granted  the  privilege  of  calling. 

It  will  be  readily  imagined  that  the  maiden  was  not  left 
a  great  deal  to  herself.  On  the  contrary,  she  was  watched 
over  with  unceasing  vigilance.  She  had  for  some  time  had 
a  tireless  chaperon,  Fraulein  Louise  Lauw,  a  Hamburg 
lady  of  good  education  and  fairly  amiable  disposition,  who, 
however,  was  only  two  years  older  than  herself.  Fraulein 
Lauw  appears  to  have  completely  won  her  affection  and  confi- 
dence ;  for,  while  doing  her  duty  as  a  watchful  companion, 
she  was  clever  enough  not  to  hold  the  reins  too  tight,  but 
acted  in  all  matters  as  a  sympathetic  friend  of  the  budding 
Adelina.1 

1  It  was  also  at  Pierrepoint  House  (in  1865)  that  Karolyn  Baumeis- 
ter  entered  her  service.  "Karo,"  as  her  mistress  affectionately  called 
her,  was  her  faithful  companion  and  friend  for  five-and-thirty  years,  dur- 
ing the  latter  half  of  which  period  she  was  a  very  important  member 
of  the  household  at  Craig-y-Noa  Castle.  Whenever  and  wherever  Mme. 
Patti  travelled,  on  all  her  American,  Continental,  and  provincial  tours, 
her  frequent  visits  abroad,  Karo  was  always  with  her.  No  one  knew 
her  ways  or  could  look  after  her  so  well ;  no  one  else  might  arrange 
her  costumes  or  her  jewels  or  get  them  ready  for  the  theatre,  though 
Patro,  her  devoted  negro  servant,  was  the  trusted  maid  who  helped  her 
to  put  them  on.     Karo  was  profoundly  attached  to  her,  and  regarded 


128  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

If  we  were  to  deduct  a  liberal  discount  for  exaggeration, 
there  is  no  reason  why  Friiulein  Lauw  should  not  be  accepted 
as  a  tolerably  credible  witness  concerning  this  period.  Her 
evidence  is,  however,  of  too  trivial  a  kind  to  be  worthy  of 
quotation.  It  is  contained  in  a  book  entitled  "Fourteen  Years 
with  Madame  Patti,"  published  in  Vienna  in  1863,  which  she 
wrote  when  living  in  the  family  of  Jules  Fischof,  the  Austrian 
banker,  whose  wife  was  a  sister  of  our  friend  Maurice  Stra- 
kosch.  One  English  reviewer  described  it  at  the  time  as 
"full  of  small  talk  and  gossip,  and  commendably  free  from 
scandal."  Why  not?  There  was  no  spark  of  scandal  to 
kindle  a  fire  with.     The  gossip  may  advantageously  be  ignored. 

A  single  episode  alone  do  we  cull  from  the  pages  of  this 
volume.  It  tells  the  story7  of  Adelina's  first  sweetheart — a 
young  Milanese  of  picturesque  aspect  and  engaging  manners. 
She  met  him  one  night  at  dinner  at  the  house  of  a  venerable 
Italian  friend,  to  whom  she  was  so  attached  that  she  always 
called  him  "dear  papa."     It  is  Fraulein  Lauw  who  speaks: 

I  had  to  promise  her  to  seize  the  first  opportunity  to  get  ac- 
quainted with  this  "interesting  young  man,"  since  she  wanted  to 
learn  what  impression  this  vision  from  a  more  ideal  world  would 
make  on  me.  The  opportunity  came  soon  in  a  dancing  party  given 
by  our  "papa."  We  had  hardly  reached  the  house  before  the  young 
man  was  at  Adelina's  side,  and  I  was  introduced  to  him  by  her. 
Before  I  had  found  time  to  form  an  opinion  of  him  Adelina  stormed 
me  with  questions  how  he  pleased  me.  To  her  great  satisfaction  I 
could  agree  with  her  that  he  was  a  handsome  man,  of  a  very  engag- 
ing disposition.  But  Papa  Patti,  too,  seemed  to  have  taken  a  par- 
ticular fancy  to  the  young  Milanese, — by  occupation  a  merchant, — 
for  he  invited  him  to  his  house,  a  favour  which  but  few  could  boast, 

herself  as  the  shield  that  protected  the  diva  from  the  outside  world. 
She  also  prided  herself — and  not  perhaps  without  good  reason — upon 
being  able  to  distinguish  the  real  friends  from  the  flatterers.  She  was 
pensioned  off  some  years  ago,  and  still  lives  in  the  neighborhood  of  Ken- 
sington. 


CO 

to 


- 

o 


t— * 

o 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  129 

and  of  which  the  }'oung  man  made  the  most  generous  use.  A  frosty 
Northerner  would  not  have  hesitated  long  over  a  wooing;  it  is  there- 
fore easily  comprehensible  that  the  fiery  young  Italian  did  not  de- 
bate the  matter  long,  but  asked  for  the  hand  of  Adelina. 

Papa  Patti  gave  his  consent,  but  on  condition  that  the  marriage 
should  not  take  place  till  several  years  had  passed.  The  condition 
was  not  agreeable  to  the  young  couple,  especially  not  to  the  young 
bridegroom.  He  would  have  preferred  to  many  Adelina  at  once. 
He  therefore  wanted  Adelina  to  renounce  the  stage  and  live  only 
for  him.  Papa  Patti  entered  a  most  negative  protest.  The  be- 
trothed lovers,  therefore,  had  to  accept  the  unbending  decision  of 
the  father,  and  put  up  for  the  time  being  with  the  privilege  of 
meeting  each  other  twice  a  week  in  the  house  of  the  "papa"  and 
there  cooing  to  their  hearts'  delight. 

Adelina  continued  her  career  of  triumph;  but,  while  the  publie 
performed  almost  impossible  things  in  its  enthusiasm,  Adelina's 
betrothed  sat  in  his  chair  as  if  on  coals.  His  eyes  flashed  flames 
and  daggers  in  all  directions,  and  whenever  he  saw  the  face  of  a 
notorious  Patti  admirer  in  a  box,  flushed  with  enthusiasm,  he  would 
have  gladly  murdered  its  owner  offhand  if  the  bon-ton  had  but 
given  him  half  permission.  But  it  was  not  the  public  alone  whose 
enthusiasm  enraged  the  young  Othello.  The  lava  of  his  jealousy 
poured  also  over  the  artists  who  supported  her.  When  old  Ron- 
coni,  who,  as  a  compliment,  had  assumed  the  role  of  Masetto  in  "Don 
Giovanni,"  and  who  wanted  to  hear  nothing  of  love  either  on  the 
stage  or  in  real  life,  placed  his  arm  around  Zerlina's  waist,  the 
would-be  bridegroom  was  driven  almost  into  a  frenzy.  But  when 
the  great  Mario,  as  Borneo,  kissed  his  Juliet,  it  seemed  as  if  the 
jealous  one  hunted  in  his  pockets  for  a  bomb  with  which  to  destroy 
his  supposed  rival. 

More  and  more  consumed  by  jealousy,  the  young  man  declared 
to  Adelina's  father  that  he  would  wait  no  longer,  and  must  in- 
stantly marry  his  love.  The  two  men  quarrelled,  and  the  result  was 
that  Signor  M.  seized  his  hat  in  a  rage  and  rushed  from  the  house 
never  to  return.  Adelina  was  beside  herself  and  wept  bitterly  when 
she  heard  of  the  rapid  conclusion  of  her  love  idyl.  Her  feminine 
pride  was  deeply  pained  that  the  man  whom  she  had  made  happy 


130  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

by  the  bestowal  of  her  love  should  renounce  her.  She  began  to 
doubt  the  sincerity  of  his  love,  and  his  name  nevermore  passed  her 
lips. 

This  little  romance  rather  suffers  in  the  telling  from  the 
heaviness  of  the  Hamburg  touch.  Xo  doubt  Friiulein  Lauw 
felt  the  need  for  plenty  of  color  in  the  relation  of  her  "small 
talk."  It  did  not  require  a  great  deal,  however,  to  prove  that 
Adelina's  jealous  first  sweetheart  was  a  very  stupid  young 
man,  and  that  she  was  well  rid  of  him  at  the  cost  of  a  few 
tears.  The  point  of  the  story  that  most  interests  us  is  its 
indication  that  Mile.  Patti  at  this  particular  age  was  not 
altogether  the  calm,  frigid  person,  devoid  of  heart  and  inno- 
cent of  passion,  that  she  has  sometimes  been  depicted. 

"She  has  never  really  been  in  love,"  was  often  said  of  Patti 
when  it  was  thought  that  there  was  not  enough  tragic  inten- 
sity in  her  acting.  That  may  have  been  true — in  some  meas- 
ure— down  to  the  time  when  she  discovered  the  real  nature  of 
her  feelings  for  Ernest  Nicolini,  her  second  husband.  Yet, 
even  without  Friiulein  Lauw's  trivial  gossip,  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that,  during  the  five  or  six  years  that  preceded  her 
marriage  with  the  Marquis  de  Caux,  she  more  than  once  fell 
in  and  out  of  love. 

Naturally,  her  opportunities  for  indulging  in  flirtations 
were  not  to  be  compared  with  those  of  most  girls  of  her  age ; 
but  she  was  far  too  sensible,  too  cognizant  of  the  serious 
claims  of  her  art,  in  a  word,  as  the  French  say,  too  sage, 
to  give  real  encouragement  to  any  of  the  admirers  who  pes- 
tered her  with  their  attentions.  Hence,  perhaps,  one  amusing 
incident  at  this  period  that  came  as  a  great  surprise,  and 
that  was  in  the  nature  of  a  revanche  for  feelings  wounded  by 
indifference  and  repulse. 

One  fine  May  morning  in  1863  the  tranquillity  of  this  happy 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  131 

home  was  suddenly  disturbed  by  the  delivery  of  a  document 
bearing  the  stamp  of  the  Court  of  Chancery  and  addressed 
to  Mile.  Adelina  Patti.  At  first  glance  it  looked  innocent 
enough.  Was  it  a  writ,  or  subpoena,  or  some  other  harmless 
if  perturbing  instrument?  Evidently,  on  closer  inspection, 
it  was  found  to  embody  an  extraordinary  puzzle.  For  the 
suit  wherein  she  was  called  upon  to  testify  was  described  in 
large  letters  as  "Patti  v.  Patti,"  the  plaintiff  being  the  diva 
herself;  while  the  defendant  was  no  other  than  her  own  fa- 
ther, with  whom  was  associated  Maurice  Strakosch.  Similar 
papers  were  served  upon  those  gentlemen  at  the  same  time 
and  place,  requiring  them  immediately  to  file  an  answer  to 
certain  charges  that  had  been  brought  against  them  by — the 
plaintiff. 

By  the  plaintiff?  How  could  that  be?  She  knew  no  more 
about  the  affair  than  did  her  unoffending  relations.  What 
could  it  all  mean"?  Again  the  family  scanned  the  blue  doc- 
ument ;  and  in  so  doing  they  discovered  something  else,  which 
only  helped  to  enhance  the  mystery.  They  saw  it  stated  that 
the  plaintiff  in  the  case  was  acting  through  an  individual 
whom  the  law  described  as  "her  next  friend."  His  name? 
They  had  never  heard  it  before.  It  was  James  Ivor 
Macdonald.  Whoever  he  might  be,  he  was  evidently  the  per- 
son who  was  "moving"  the  court.  The  first  thing  to  do, 
therefore,  must  be  to  go  to  a  lawyer  and  find  out  something 
about  Mr.  Macdonald. 

Maurice  Strakosch  was  far  more  upset  than  his  plucky 
little  sister-in-law.1  Being  accustomed  to  shield  her  from  all 
annoyance,  and  even,  as  we  have  seen,  to  act  as  her  substitute 
at  the  theatre,  he  endeavored  to  "accept  service"  of  the 
subpoena  as  well  as  the  writ.  But  this  was  not  permitted. 
Nor  did  it  much  matter,  seeing  that  there  was  obviously  no 

i  It  is,  nevertheless,  a  fact  that  he  makes  no  mention  whatever  of 
the  whole  affair  in  his  "Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario." 


132  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

possibility  of  concealing  the  affair  from  the  "plaintiff"  her- 
self. Besides, — and  this  worst  of  all, — the  whole  story  was 
published  in  that  morning's  papers.  The  wretched  farce,  or 
tragedy,  or  whatever  it  might  be,  had  been  made  public, 
and  was  by  now  doubtless  being  eagerly  discussed  all  over 
London.  Consequently,  Maurice  Strakosch  made  a  bee-line 
for  his  lawyer's  office,  and  there  learned  that  the  matter  was 
not  altogether  a  practical  joke. 

It  is  time,  perhaps,  to  disclose  the  nature  of  the  charge 
upon  which  the  "plaintiff"  in  this  precious  suit  sought  to 
obtain  the  protection  of  the  Court  of  Chancery.  It  alleged, 
briefly,  that  the  "said  defendants  had  treated  the  plaintiff 
with  cruelty,  interfered  with  her  liberty,  appropriated  her 
jewelry,  and  kept  her  short  of  money."  Moreover,  as  the 
court  had  required  corroboration,  such  evidence  had  been 
supplied  in  three  minutely  worded  and  highly  colored  affi- 
davits confirming  everything  set  forth  by  the  pseudo-plaintiff 
and  her  ' '  next  friend. ' ' 

But  who  was  this  next  friend,  this  James  Ivor  Macdonald, 
who  had  taken  it  upon  himself  to  invoke  the  aid  of  the  law 
on  the  little  lady's  behalf?  Positively  no  one  at  Clapham 
had  ever  heard  of  the  person.  The  question  was  repeatedly 
asked,  not  only  in  the  Patti  household,  but  in  the  various 
social  circles  whence  the  merits  of  this  surprising  and  wholly 
unexpected  cause  celcbre  were  being  canvassed.  The  solution 
that  occurred  to  most  people  was  that  "Mr.  James  Ivor  Mac- 
donald" had  sought  to  create  trouble,  and  to  associate  him- 
self, for  the  sake  of  advertisement,  with  an  action  which,  if 
known  as  "Patti  v.  Patti,"  would  at  least  create  a  nine-days' 
wonder  and  provide  the  newspapers  with  unlimited  material 
for  sensational   copy. 

These  things  it  assuredly  did.  The  papers  were  full  of 
it ;  and,  to  give  the  case  still  greater  prominence,  matters  were 
so  arranged  that  the  hearing  should  be  fixed  for  a  date  early 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  133 

in  June,  just  when  the  diva  would  be  in  the  midst  of  her 
triumphal  appearances  at  Covent  Garden.  Altogether  it  was 
a  curious  business,  very  cleverly  and  cunningly  planned. 

However,  the  clue  to  the  mystery  was  soon  discovered  by 
the  legal  adviser  and  the  chief  parties  concerned.  He  quickly 
unveiled  the  identity — not,  indeed,  of  Mr.  James  Ivor  Mac- 
donald,  but  of  one  of  the  authors  of  his  supporting  affidavits, 
to  wit,  a  gentleman  known  as  the  Baron  de  V.1  This  young 
man,  it  appeared,  had  some  time  before  fallen  violently  in 
love  with  Mile.  Patti  and  sought  the  honor  of  her  hand.  His 
suit  was  rejected.  Moreover,  it  was  found  necessary,  for 
various  reasons,  to  forbid  him  the  house  or  to  approach  the 
young  lady  further  in  his  endeavor  to  win  her  affections. 

Like  Malvolio,  the  Baron  de  V.  had  sworn  to  be  revenged; 
and  the  method  he  adopted  for  that  purpose  was  a  singularly 
mean  one.  Having  no  personal  quarrel  with  Adelina,  he 
bethought  him  how  he  could  best  annoy  her  guardians,  who 
had,  so  to  speak,  "warned  him  off."  He  therefore  hit  upon 
the  plan  that,  as  we  have  seen,  constituted  them  defendants 
in  a  Chancery  action,  with  Mile.  Patti  herself  fictitiously  put 
forward  as  plaintiff  by  a  dummy  "next  friend"  in  the  person 
of  an  obscure  Scotchman — probably  some  obliging  and  un- 
scrupulous lawyer's  clerk. 

Thanks  to  the  blindness  (or  stupidity)  of  the  Chancery 
officials,  the  trick  succeeded  perfectly.  The  affidavits  were 
assumed  to  be  truthful,  and  the  case  had  perforce  to  come  to 
a  hearing.  The  press  was  naturally  anxious  to  accord  it  all 
possible  publicity,  thereby  playing  still  more  effectively  into 
the  hands  of  the  conspirators. 

The  Court  of  Chancery,  however,  decided  that,  as  the  plain- 
tiff was  under  age,  the  case  should  be  heard  in  camera,  which 
meant  that  reports  of  the  proceedings  could  not  be  published. 
Not  in  Great  Britain,  perhaps — but  why  not  abroad?     So 

i  It  is  not  worth  while,  after  so  many  years,  to  give  the  name  in  full. 


134  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

thought  the  "wicked  Baron,"  and  lie  accordingly  took  pains 
to  have  a  garbled  account  of  the  affair  circulated  among  the 
French  journals.  Portions  of  this  were  eventually  quoted — 
regardless  of  the  risk  of  "contempt  of  court" — in  certain 
English  papers. 

On  the  whole,  the  press  took  sides  with  the  idol  of  the  public 
and  refused  to  believe  in  the  genuineness  of  the  proceedings. 
Still,  one  or  two  could  not  resist  treating  the  affair  in  a 
jocular  spirit.  On  June  1,  just  before  the  case  came  on  for 
hearing,  a  paper  called  the  Morning  Star  (long  since  defunct) 
printed  a  lengthy  editorial,  in  course  of  which  it  remarked: 

The  public  will  sympathise  with  the  young  divinity  of  song  in 
thus  making  her  first  appearance  in  the  Court  of  Chancery,  a  suitor 
in  her  own  despite,  losing  a  suitor  under  much  the  same  circum- 
stances; and  proving  that  the  only  compulsion  she  has  been  suffer- 
ing under  has  been  that  of  demanding  the  protection  of  the  court 
when  she  did  not  need  it.  It  is  one  of  the  penalties  of  greatness 
to  have  over-zealous  friends,  and  we  catch  something  of  the  power 
of  the  magic  that  the  young  enchantress  exercises  over  her  hearers 
when  an  utter  stranger  is  thus  found  undertaking  all  the  costs  of  a 
Chancery  suit  to  bring  his  name  in  apposition  with  hers  before  a 
curious  public. 

Thirst  for  notoriety  was  apparently  the  worst  motive  that 
this  editor  could  assign  as  the  Baron's  reason  for  dragging 
the  private  affairs  of  a  popular  singer  before  a  court  of  law. 
The  learned  Vice-Chancellor  was  even  more  credulous.  He 
took  it  all  seriously,  and  apparently  looked  forward  with  gusto 
to  inquiring  into  the  charges  of  cruelty,  etc. — in  camera! 

But  two  days  later  the  Morning  Star  wound  up  a  second 
article  with  this  sentence: 

The  nine  days'  wonder  has  collapsed,  and  henceforward  we  hope 
the  tatlers  will  leave  Mile.  Patti  in  the  undisturbed  enjoyment  of 
that  domestic  happiness  which,  everybody  will  be  pleased  to  learn, 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  135 

sweetens  her  life  and  solaces  the  cares  and  toils  of  her  professional 
career. 

What  had  happened  was  this.  The  Court  of  Chancery,  hav- 
ing been  fooled  to  the  top  of  its  bent,  was  quietly  allowed  to  go 
on  and  open  its  sitting  in  camera  for  the  hearing  of  the  suit. 
Mile.  Patti's  counsel  then  rose  and  put  in,  on  her  behalf,  an 
affidavit  which  ran  as  follows: 

PATTI  v.  PATTI. 

In  re  Adelina  Patti,  of  22  High  Street,  Clapham,  an  infant  under 
the  age  of  twenty-one  years,  by  James  Ivor  Macdonald,  her 
next  friend, 

and 
Salvatore  Patti  and  Maurice  Strakosch. 

I  have  heard  read  carefully  the  Bill  of  Complaint  and  the  affi- 
davit of  H.  de  L.,  Baron  de  V.,  and  others,  filed  in  support  of  it, 
and  I  say  that,  although  my  name  is  used  as  the  plaintiff  in  this  suit, 
it  has  been  done  entirely  without  my  sanction  and  even  without 
my  knowledge.  .  .  .  There  is  not  one  word  of  truth  in  any  of  the 
allegations  against  my  said  brother-in-law  or  against  my  said  father 
in  any  of  the  affidavits  filed  in  this  cause.  I  wholly  deny  that  I  am 
or  ever  was  treated  with  cruelty  by  them,  or  that  my  liberty  is  or 
ever  was  controlled, — or  that  I  am  or  ever  was  kept  short  of  money, 
or  that  my  jewellery  or  any  part  of  it  has  been  appropriated  by  them. 
...  It  is,  however,  true  that  the  defendant,  my  father,  takes  care 
of  the  bulk  of  my  earnings  as  an  operatic  singer  for  me,  and  I  say 
I  have  the  most  entire  confidence  in  and  the  greatest  love  for  my 
dear  father,  and  also  for  the  defendant  the  said  Maurice  Strakosch, 
both  of  whom  have  always  treated  me  with  the  most  affectionate 
kindness. 

{Signed)     Adelina  Patti. 

History  does  not  relate  whether  the   Court  looked  more 


186  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

foolish  or  more  learned  than  ever  after  the  foregoing  state- 
ment had  been  read.  Anjdiow,  the  Vice-Chancellor,  convinced 
at  last  that  there  was  not  a  vestige  of  truth  in  the  whole  story, 
immediately  ordered  the  suit  to  be  "removed  from  the  file," 
and  there  accordingly  it  ended. 

But  what  of  the  plotters?  In  these  days  a  watchful  Direc- 
tor of  Public  Prosecutions  would  have  taken  care  to  have 
the  whole  lot  tried  and  sent  to  prison  for  conspiracy  and 
perjury.  As  it  was,  nothing  was  done,  and  they  were  allowed 
to  get  off  scot-free.  The  Baron's  revenge  cost  him  something 
out  of  pocket ;  but  he  managed  in  some  degree  to  accomplish 
his  mean,  ungentlemanly  object. 

The  hard  work  of  the  preceding  winter  and  spring  had  been 
fraught  with  valuable  experience.  This,  coupled  with  much 
careful  study,  must  be  held  accountable  for  the  marked 
advance  that  was  discovered  in  the  art  of  Adelina  Patti  on 
her  reappearance  at  Covent  Garden  in  May,  1863.  The  critics 
had  full  opportunity  for  comparisons,  since  she  once  more 
made  her  rentree  as  Amina.  They  were  delighted  to  find  in 
the  familiar  impersonation  fresh  resources  and  new  points  of 
excellence. 

They  thought  the  wonderful  golden  voice  had  continued 
to  acquire  volume  and  richness.  They  looked  in  vain  for 
certain  faults  of  style  which  the  more  hypercritical  among 
them  had  previously  indicated — with  the  same  satisfaction, 
no  doubt,  that  the  astronomer  announces  the  spots  on  the  sun. 
Yes,  they  "thought  her  style  had  improved,"  and  Chorley 
was  notably  keen  in  his  appreciation  of  the  advance  that  had 
taken  place  since  the  season  before.  He  even  began  to  admire 
her  Zerlina,  though  he  always  insisted  that  her  dress  was 
more  French  than  Spanish.1 

i  On  her  first  appearance  in  "Don  Giovanni"  he  had  said,  "Wherefore 
Zerlina  chose  to  appear  in  a  Parisian  ball-dress  is  among  th«  riddles  of 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  137 

On  the  great  question  of  good  taste  and  appropriateness  in 
her  vocal  embellishments,  expert  opinion  had  by  now  under- 
gone an  entire  change,  at  an}^  rate  in  Great  Britain.  Rossini 
had  not  quite  made  up  his  mind  on  the  subject;  he  would 
admire  one  day  and  be  sarcastic  the  next. 

While  Patti  was  in  Paris,  Berlioz  remarked  in  his  feuilleton : 
"Rossini  seems  delighted  to  hear  of  changes,  embroideries, 
and  the  thousand  abominations  which  singers  introduce  into 
his  airs."  On  the  other  hand,  Rossini  said:  "My  music  is 
not  yet  made;  people  work  at  it,  but  it  will  only  be  on  the 
day  when  nothing  is  left  of  me  that  it  will  have  reached  its 
real  value." 

Then,  strangely  enough,  Chorley  took  up  the  cudgels  on 
behalf  of  tradition  and  the  "little  lady,"  and  replied  as 
follows:  "The  bitterness  of  this  sarcasm  is  only  equalled  by 
the  sheer  nonsense  of  it.  Signor  Rossini  has  notoriously  said 
to  hundreds  of  singers  that,  in  his  songs  of  parade,  he  merely 
sketched  certain  embroideries  for  which  others  might  be  sub- 
stituted. .  .  .  The  solid  features  of  his  operas  are  indestruc- 
tible, and,  as  such,  not  to  be  reconstructed  at  the  call  of  any 
singer's  caprice.  As  for  their  garlands  and  decorations,  ill 
humor  is  wasted  in  the  employment  of  diatribes  against  them. 
The  great  and  the  real  remain." 

The  same  writer  led  the  chorus  of  praise  that  greeted  Mile. 
Patti 's  first  appearance  (at  Covent  Garden)  on  May  28  in 
the  character  of  Leonora  in  "II  Trovatore."1  He  wrote: 
"Patti  the  other  evening  surprised  her  greatest  admirers  by 
dramatic  power  hitherto  unsuspected,  put  forth  by  her  in 
'II  Trovatore.'  " 

Said  the  Musical  World:  "Mile.  Patti  played  Leonora  in 

costume"    {Athenaeum).     To  judge  by  photographs   taken   at  the  time, 
the  riddle  was  purely   of  his   own   manufacture.     But   it   was   not  un- 
worthy of  the  pen  that  makes  Siebel  say  in  "Faust,"  "While  to  her  in 
the  air  I  bended  my  knee." 
i  See  Appendix  P. 


138  Til  E  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

the  'Trovatore'  for  the  firsi  time,  but  not  for  the  last  time, 
we  feel  assured.  We  have  heard  a  great  deal  too  much  of  the 
'Trovatore';  but  Mile.  Patti  imparts  a  new  charm  to  Leonora, 
and  sings  the  music  with  wonderful  brilliancy.  She  is,  in 
short,  the  most  intellectual  and  poetical  Leonora  we  have  ever 
seen  on  any  stage.  Her  acting  with  Signor  Mario  in  the  last 
two  scenes  was  worthy  of  Rachel." 

Nevertheless,  the  part  was  deemed  rather  heavy  for  her, 
and  only  two  repetitions  were  vouchsafed.  Mr.  Gye  also 
wisely  determined  to  give  "La  Sonnambula"  a  rest.  It  was 
not  performed  again  after  the  opening  night,  and  "Don 
Giovanni"  and  "II  Barbiere"  mainly  shared  the  Patti  nights 
with  Verdi's  hackneyed  work  until  some  lighter  operas  could 
be  got  ready.  The  first  of  these,  Rossini's  "La  Gazza  Ladra" 
(given  on  June  6),  won  a  huge  success.  The  new  Ninetta 
wras  freely  compared  with  Grisi  in  her  best  days.  Chorley 
wrote:  "Her  Ninetta  is,  we  think,  by  much  the  best  of  her 
serious  characters.  Her  phrasing  of  it  is  larger  than  formerly ; 
her  power  of  voice  is  sufficient ;  the  pathos  of  the  part  is 
tenderly  felt  by  her;  her  ornamental  passages  retain  little  or 
nothing  of  the  staccato  manner  which  we  feared  might  grow 
into  a  mannerism.     We  were  pleased  with  it  throughout." 

In  three  other  characters  new  to  her  London  repertoire 
did  Mile.  Patti  appear  during  the  last  month  of  this  busy 
season,  viz:  Norina  in  "Don  Pasquale  (July  9),  Adina  in 
"L'Elisir  d'Amore"  (July  21),  and  Marie  in  "La  Figlia  del 
Reggimento"  (July  28).  It  would  be  difficult  to  say  in  which 
of  these  Donizetti  operas  she  charmed  her  public  most.  The 
critics  bestowed  superlatives  upon  each.  They  especially  wel- 
comed her  restoration  of  the  original  finale  to  "Don  Pasquale" 
("La  moral'  di  tutto  questo"),  which  she  sang  in  the  most 
piquant  and  captivating  manner,  the  ornaments  being  no  less 
in  good  taste  than  brilliant  and  effective."  1 

1  Musical  World. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  139 

The  writer  on  the  Morning  Star  expressed  his  admiration  in 
this  flowery  fashion :  "In  the  cajolery  of  her  coquetry,  the 
effusion  of  her  genuine  tenderness,  and  the  snappiness  of  her 
termagancy,  she  is  equally  irresistible  in  her  fascination,  and 
such  a  Norina  was  probably  never  dreamed  of  by  Donizetti 
even  in  his  most  sanguine  visions.  The  finale  was  sung  with 
all  her  familiar  birdlike  brilliance  and  incomparable  com- 
bination of  sparkling  radiance  and  perfect  grace. ' ' 

Of  "L'Elisir  d'Amore"  Davison  declared  in  the  Times: 
"No  performance  during  the  whole  season  has  been  more 
keenly  relished.  .  .  .  Patti's  is  the  best  Adina  we  can  remem- 
ber." The  critic  of  the  Musical  World  confirmed  this  by 
saying :  ' '  It  is,  in  fact,  the  best  we  have  seen  by  a  great  deal 
on  the  English  boards." 

Finally  came  another  triumphant  success  in  "La  Figlia 
del  Eeggimento."  Despite  memories,  then  green,  of  the 
exquisite  Henrietta  Sontag,  who  had  been  heard  as  Marie 
only  a  dozen  years  before,  the  general  opinion  was  that  Patti  's 
impersonation  was  even  more  entrancing — certainly  that  noth- 
ing approaching  it  in  all-round  fascination  had  been  wit- 
nessed at  Covent  Garden.  Of  the  notices  the  following  (from 
the  Morning  Star  again)  is  quite  a  fair  sample: 

This  incomparable  artist  sang  Marie  for  the  first  time  in  England, 
and  for  the  first  time  exhibited  to  the  English  public  the  veritable 
personality  of  the  piquant,  graceful,  and  warm-hearted  vivandiere. 
The  simple  truth  is  that  Mile.  Patti  is  not  merely  a  singer  who  can 
act, — she  is  heart  and  soul  an  actress.  Her  perception  of  character 
is  marvellously  keen  and  truthful;  she  seems  to  grasp  instinctively 
the  entire  individuality,  taking  equal  heed  of  its  natural  tempera- 
ment and  of  the  influence  which  has  been  exerted  upon  it  by  ex- 
traneous agencies,  and  her  ideal  is  wrought  out  with  matchless  de- 
lineative  power.  .  .  .  Her  singing  was  throughout  unsurpassable, 
sparkling  with  vocal  brilliancy  and  dramatic  expression.  Altogether 
it  was  an  incomparably  perfect  representation  of  Donizetti's  heroine. 


140  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Thus  wore  on  to  its  close  the  season  of  1863.  It  had  been 
brilliant  from  the  outset  and  rendered  additionally  so  by  the 
State  performance  given  on  April  28  in  honor  of  the  marriage 
of  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales.  As  we  have  seen,  Mile. 
Patti  appeared  in  four  new  parts.  She  was  promised  in  a 
fifth,  namely,  Zerlina  in  "Fra  Diavolo,"  but  did  not  then 
(or  subsequently)  essay  it  at  this  house.  On  July  18  the  ac- 
complished Pauline  Lucca  had  made  her  debut  in  England  as 
Valentino,  in  "Les  Huguenots,"  and  she — unquestionably  the 
ideal  Zerlina  of  Auber's  opera — practically  monopolized  the 
role  to  the  end  of  her  Covent  Garden  career. 

Here  is  Mile.  Patti 's  record  for  the  season  of  1863: 

"II  Barbiere  di  Siviglia"    ....  7 

"Don  Giovanni" 6 

"II    Trovatore" 3 

"La  Gazza  Ladra" 3 

"Martha" 3 

"Don  Pasqualo" 3 

"L'Elisir  d'Amore" 2 

"La  Figlia  del  Regghnento"    ...  2 

"La  Sonnambula" 1 

Total 30  representations. 

This  was  the  year,  too,  in  which  Gounod's  "Faust"  was 
first  produced  in  London,  Mr.  Mapleson  leading  the  way  at 
Her  Majest3''s  with  such  extraordinary  success  that  Mr.  Gye 
followed  suit  with  all  possible  speed  at  Covent  Garden.  At 
both  houses  it  attracted  enormous  audiences  till  the  end  of 
the  season.  The  cast  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  included  the 
original  Marguerite,  Mme.  Miolan-Carvalho,  with  Tamberlik 
as  Faust,  Faure  as  Mephistopheles,  and  Graziani  as  Valentin. 
Not  until  the  following  year,  however,  was  Patti  to  set  all  the 
town  talking  of  her  admirable  Gretchen. 


'  ■-> 


CHAPTER  XI 

The  Two  Sisters — Carlotta  Patti's  Strange  Career — Cause  and  Effects 
of  Her  Lameness — A  Brilliant  Concert  Vocalist — Debut  in  London 
(1863) — Mr.  Gye's  Unsuccessful  Experiment — Futile  Comparisons — 
The  Diva's  Increasing  Fees  and  Continental  Triumphs — Essays  Mar- 
guerite in  Germany  and  Paris;  then  (1864)  at  Covent  Garden — The 
Garden  Scene  in  "Faust" — Exit  Pauline  Lucca;  enter  Adelina  Patti — 
The  Two  Gretchens  and  the  Critics — Revival  of  "Linda" — State  Con- 
certs— Patti's  Conductors 

YET  another  interesting  family  incident  belongs  to  the 
busy  season  of  1863 ;  namely,  the  first  visit  to  England 
of  Carlotta  Patti,  the  second  of  Adelina 's  two  elder  sisters. 
They  had  not  met  since  the  ' '  baby ' '  left  New  York  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1860  and  achieved  her  phenomenal  rise  to  the  highest 
pinnacle  of  European  fame.  During  that  interval  Carlotta 
Patti  had  surprised  her  American  friends  by  herself  starting 
upon  the  career  of  a  vocalist.  So  far,  it  had  proved,  as  we 
shall  see,  successful  enough  to  warrant  her  not  fearing  to  meas- 
ure swords — upon  the  concert  platform,  at  least — with  her 
gifted  younger  sister.  Their  artistic  lines  ran  parallel,  how- 
ever, for  a  relatively  brief  space  of  time ;  and,  to  be  absolutely 
just,  it  would  have  been  far  better  for  Carlotta,  clever  singer 
though  she  was,  had  they  not  been  brought  into  close  juxtapo- 
sition.1 

How  the  reunion  came  about  we  shall  relate.  But  first  let 
us  deal  with  the  unpleasant  matter  of  Carlotta 's  lameness, 
which  had  been  perceptible  enough  to  prevent  her  from  turn- 
ing her  talent  to  the  operatic  stage.  There  was  apparently 
some  mystery  as  to  the  cause  of  this  affliction.     At  any  rate, 

i  See  Appendix  Q. 

141 


142  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

if  the  family  knew  all  about  it,  the  world  did  not;  and 
common  gossip,  ever  ready  to  scent  a  scandal  in  a  mystery, 
went  so  far  as  to  hint  with  much  positiveness  that  the  person 
primarily  responsible  for  Carlotta's  slight  " claudification," 
as  Maurice  Strakosch  termed  it,  was  no  other  than  her  little 
sister  Adelina. 

A  more  untruthful  or  preposterous  suggestion  never  came 
under  the  category  that  Don  Basilio  describes  so  graphically 
in  his  famous  song  "La  Calunnia."  Equally  unfounded  was 
the  more  general  belief  that  the  lameness  of  Carlotta  Patti 
had  been  occasioned  by  a  fall.  It  actually  came  about  during 
childhood  through  a  gradual  "shortening"  of  the  leg,  for 
which  unkind  fate  alone  could  be  held  responsible.1 

No  doubt  Adelina 's  phenomenal  success  had  a  great  deal  to 
do  with  her  sister's  abandonment  of  the  pianoforte  (which, 
it  will  be  remembered,  she  had  studied  under  the  virtuoso 
and  piano-maker,  Henri  Herz)  in  favor  of  a  vocal  career. 
When,  as  a  girl,  she  was  teaching  Adelina  to  play,  Carlotta 's 
voice  had  attracted  no  particular  attention.  It  seems  to  have 
developed  at  a  later  period  than  usual.  Certainly  it  was  not 
until  the  youngest  girl  was  well  launched  that  the  Patti- 
Barili  family  began  to  perceive  the  possibility  of  her  repeating 
— or  at  least  profitably  imitating — Adelina 's  achievements. 

Carlotta  had  not  long  returned  home  from  South  America, 
where  she  had  been  nursing  her  step-sister  Clotilda  through 

i  Apart  from  the  evidence  of  Maurice  Strakosch  ("Souvenirs  d'un  Im- 
presario," p.  121),  there  was  that  of  Dr.  Ceccarini,  a  well-known  New 
York  surgeon,  who  invented  an  apparatus  which  so  far  helped  the  artist 
to  disguise  her  limp  that  she  ventured  to  appear  in  opera  in  that  city. 
According  to  the  New  York  Musical  Revieto  (September,  18G2),  "Miss 
Carlotta  Patti  was  expected  to  move  with  the  same  apparent  ease  and 
precision  as  if  she  had  never  been  lame."  But  this  hope  was  not  ful- 
filled. She  was  only  too  conscious  that  she  still  limped;  and,  although 
she  appeared  in  three  or  four  operas  (incidentally  aiding  thereby  to 
extricate  a  needy  impresario  from  his  financial  troubles),  the  experi- 
ment did  not  result  in  a  success,  nor  was  it  ever  repeated. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  143 

a  long  and  fatal  illness.  With  her  came  that  sister's  husband, 
Signor  Scola,  a  vocal  teacher  and  a  musician  of  some  ability.1 
He  it  was  who  now  undertook  Carlotta's  vocal  training; 
and,  aided  by  her  musical  knowledge,  she  made  such  rapid 
progress  that  by  the  end  of  a  year  she  was  thought  ready  to 
appear  in  public.  She  made  her  debut,  accordingly,  at  a 
concert  given  in  New  York  in  January,  1861,  just  fourteen 
months  after  Adelina's  memorable  advent  in  opera  in  the 
same   city. 

Her  reception  was  favorable,  and  such  was  the  magic 
now  attaching  to  the  name  of  Patti  that  Carlotta's  reputation 
quickly  spread  all  over  the  United  States.2  But  she  was  still 
far  from  the  finished  vocalist  that  her  younger  sister  had 
been  long  before  her  age.  She  was  not  yet  even  the  artist 
that  London  heard  and  enjoyed  two  years  later.  Like  her 
elder  sister  Amalia — for  that  matter,  like  Jenny  Lind  too,  in 
her  time — she  found  it  hard  to  master  the  shake.  Five  months 
after  her  debut  she  was  still,  apparently,  struggling  with  this 
difficulty.  She  then  gave  a  concert,  assisted  by  Amalia  (Mme. 
Maurice  Strakosch),  the  tenor  Brignoli,  and  her  step-brother, 
Ettore  Barili,  which  elicited  some  highly  characteristic  re- 
marks in  the  local  musical  paper.3 

With  increasing  fame  and  experience,  however,  Carlotta 
grew  likewise  in  artistic  stature.     London  began  to  hear  of 

1  Signor  Scola's  name  used  to  be  included  occasionally  among  the  list 
of  claimants  to  the  honor  of  having  "taught"  Adelina  Patti.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  he  never  gave  her  a  lesson  in  his  life. 

2  See  Appendix  R,  Letter  from  Louis  Moreau  Gottschalk. 

:!  The  New  York  Musical  Review,  June,  1861.  The  notice  began  thus: 
"The  concert  given  by  Miss  Carlotta  Patti  was  also  very  successful,  as 
the  papers  say.  There  was  also  a  good  deal  of  singing  by  Mme.  Stra- 
kosch and  Messrs.  Brignoli  and  Barili,  done  in  the  usual  style,  which 
is  not  always  to  our  taste.  Miss  Patti  sang  well — better  than  we  have 
heard  a  good  many  renowned  singers  do  it  [sic] — but  what  she  cannot 
do  as  yet  is — trilling.  The  trill  in  the  'Bolero'  of  the  'Sicilian  Vespers' 
presented  some  curious  and  vacillating  outlines,  which  might  be  called 
shaky,  but  which  were  by  no  means  those  of  a  regular  artistic  trill." 


144  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

her  brilliant  successes  in  the  concert-room,  though  probably 
nothing  about  her  ineffectual  invasion  of  the  operatic  domain. 
Ultimately,  thanks  to  the  diplomatic  intervention  of  Maurice 
Strakosch  (backed  up  by  sister  Adelina),  these  same  reports 
reached  the  remote  and  exalted  atmosphere  of  Mr.  Frederick 
Gye's  sanctum  sanctorum  at  Covent  Garden.  Then  an  idea 
occurred  to  the  former  manager  of  Alfred  Mellon 's  Promenade 
Concerts.  If  only  on  the  strength  of  the  name  of  Patti,  might 
it  not  be  an  excellent  business  proposition  to  bring  over 
Carlotta? 

The  scheme  was  duly  arranged,  and,  early  in  1863,  Mr. 
Gye  entered  into  an  engagement  with  Carlotta  Patti  for  one 
year  from  the  month  of  April.  His  plan  was  something  of  a 
novelty.  It  was  to  put  the  new-comer  into  the  Royal  Italian 
Opera  bill  twice  a  week,  as  the  star  of  a  kind  of  concert  that 
was  to  follow  the  shorter  operas  of  the  repertoire,  chiefly,  if 
not  exclusively,  on  the  nights  when  Adelina  was  not  singing. 

From  an  artistic  point  of  view,  the  idea  had  absolutely 
nothing  to  recommend  it.  The  chances  were  that,  if  the 
singer  made  a  hit,  the  additional  attraction  might  augment 
the  receipts.  It  was  a  purely  commonplace,  commercial  spec- 
ulation, and  was  regarded  as  such  by  the  critics,  who  did  not 
like  the  innovation  well  enough  to  remain  for  more  than  the 
first  "concert"  or  two.  Davison  barely  mentioned  the  new 
feature;  while  in  his  final  review  of  the  season  he  wrote  in 
the  Times:  " Carlotta 's  appearances  do  not  properly  enter 
into  a  record  of  the  operatic  season,  being  wholly  distinct 
from  the  bona-fide  operatic  representations." 

Adelina  was  still  in  Vienna  when  her  sister  made  her  debut 
at  Covent  Garden  on  April  16  in  this  "go-as-you-please" 
entertainment.  Her  selection  comprised  the  following  arias : 
"Gli  angui  d 'inferno"  ("Magic  Flute")  "0  luce"  ("Linda 
di  Chamouni"),  the  inevitable  "Echo  Song"  by  Eckert,  and 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  145 

the  duet  from  "L'Elisir  d'Amore,"  sung  with  Graziani  of  the 
"noble"  and  also  "velvety"  voice.  In  her  rendering  of 
these  pieces  Carlotta  showed  herself  not  unworthy  of  her 
American  reputation,  nor  of  the  honors  that  had  been  pro- 
fusely heaped  upon  her  by  admiring  friends  at  a  banquet 
given  in  New  York  the  night  before  she  sailed. 

She  had  by  now,  indeed,  become  a  highly  accomplished 
vocalist.  Her  voice  sounded  rather  heavier  and  (in  the  more 
acute  notes)  more  penetrating  than  Adelina's;  but  it  never 
had  the  same  peerless  beauty  of  tone,  the  same  wonderfully 
suave  texture,  the  same  sympathetic  quality,  the  same  capacity 
for  expressing  and  arousing  every  shade  of  emotion.  This  I 
was  able  to  observe  for  myself  ten  years  later,  when  I  heard 
Carlotta  Patti  for  the  first  time. 

Nevertheless,  Carlotta 's  was  a  fine  organ.  It  was  extremely 
flexible,  and  its  phenomenal  compass  extended  easily  to  the 
G  and  even  G  sharp  in  alt.  The  musical  ring  of  the  high  F 
was  quite  remarkable ;  it  was  effectively  exhibited  in  the 
Mozart  aria,  whereof  one  contemporary  writer  observed :  ' '  The 
staccato  passages  we  have  never  heard  surpassed  in  clearness, 
crispness,  and  purity  of  intonation." 

But  nothing  short  of  a  miracle  could  have  made  these  ill- 
arranged  performances  successful.  The  public  manifested 
no  overwhelming  desire  to  listen  to  Carlotta  Patti.  The  late 
concerts  at  the  Opera  did  not  draw.  By  the  end  of  the  season 
it  was  wisely  resolved  that  the  two  sisters  should  no  longer 
appear  under  the  same  roof.  Carlotta,  however,  stayed  on 
at  Covent  Garden  in  the  autumn  to  fulfil  an  engagement  at 
Mellon 's  Promenade  Concerts.  There  she  was  in  her  true 
element.  Her  execution  of  the  most  difficult  and  showy  feux- 
d'artifice  won  her  great  popularity,  and,  on  the  termination 
of  her  year's  contract  with  Mr.  Gye,  she  began  touring  on  her 
own  account. 

Altogether  her  career  as  a  singer  extended  over  about  seven- 


146  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

teen  years.  Her  talent  certainly  found  admirers  in  every  part 
of  the  globe.  She  was  essentially  a  virtuose,  not  an  inter- 
preter of  the  dramatic,  either  in  musical  expression  or  char- 
acter. 

Herein,  perhaps,  lay  the  principal  difference  between  the 
gifts  of  the  two  sisters.  Adelina's  revealed  at  all  points  the 
unerring  instinct  and  convincing  temperament  of  genius. 
Carlotta  never  possessed  the  magnetic  quality  of  her  younger 
sister — least  of  all  that  uncommon  attribute  which  the 
Italians  associate  with  the  art  of  the  hnprovisatore,  and  which 
enabled  Adelina  so  to  conceal  her  method  that  all  she  did 
seemed  like  the  spontaneous  outpouring,  the  rushing  torrent  of 
her  individual   feeling. 

Yet,  strangely  enough,  there  was  a  time  when  each  sister 
commanded  her  own  set  of  partizans,  ready  to  champion  the 
claims  of  either  to  public  admiration.  Such  controversies — 
like  those  of  the  Handel-Buononcini  or  Gluck-Piccini  order — 
are,  generally  speaking,  too  charged  with  prejudice,  too  trivial, 
for  posterity  to  need  to  analyze  or  speculate  over  them.  There 
could  never  have  been  any  real  question  concerning  the 
respective  merits  of  Carlotta  and  Adelina  Patti. 

The  former  was  married  in  1879  to  the  well-known  Belgian 
violoncellist,  the  Chevalier  Ernest  de  Munck,  who  resided 
and  taught  for  some  years  in  London.  On  her  retirement 
from  the  concert  platform,  she  settled  down  in  Paris  as  a 
vocal  teacher,  and  died  there  in  1889. 

During  the  autumn  of  1863  Adelina  Patti,  after  a  brief 
holiday  in  Switzerland,  fulfilled  brilliant  engagements  in 
Germany,  France,  and  Spain.  The  newspapers,  having  al- 
most exhausted  their  vocabulary  of  superlatives,  now  began 
to  criticize  the  high  fees  demanded  and  paid  for  her  services. 
Again  it  was  Chorley  who,  with  much  common  sense,  came 
to  the  rescue.     Thus  we  read  in  the  Athenceum  : 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  147 

Mile.  Adelina  Patti  is  playing  and  singing  her  way  through  Ger- 
manj'  along  paths  strewn  with  gold.  Some  of  our  contemporaries 
profess  themselves  to  be  outraged  at  the  sums  this  young  lady  re- 
ceives. She  is  engaged  to  M.  Bagier  for  Paris  and  Madrid,  they  tell 
us,  at  £120  for  each  performance.1  Let  us  remind  them  that  they 
have  chosen  to  present  her  to  the  public  as  a  first-class  singer — the 
equal  of  Malibran,  Grisi,  and  Persiani,  having  an  added  charm  of 
her  own — that  of  youth.  Setting  aside  the  known  fact  that  first- 
class  singers  are  becoming  rarer  and  rarer  every  day,  Mile.  Patti 
is  not  paid  more  than  Malibran — not  so  much  as  Mile.  Lind — but  a 
little  in  excess  of  La  Bastardella,  who,  in  Burney's  time,  when  he 
was  managing  the  concerts  at  the  Pantheon  (circa  17S0),  received 
100  guineas  nightly  for  two  song's.  "False  gods  are  made  by  fanat- 
ics," says  the  poet;  but  the  fanatics  do  ill  to  cry  out  against  the 
worship  of  the  idols  which  "themselves  have  made." 

The  diva  had  barely  started  her  German  engagement  (late 
in  August)  when  she  was  summoned  to  Frankfort  to  take 
part  in  a  gala  performance  given  at  the  Stadt  Theater  in  honor 
of  the  Emperor  Francis  Joseph  of  Austria.  She  appeared  in 
"II  Barbiere,"  and  it  was  rumored  that  her  cachet  on  this 
occasion  rose  to  10,000  francs  (£400) — probably  double  the 
sum  actually  exacted  by  her  impresario,  Merelli,  of  Dutch 
Cabinet  Council  fame. 

Still,  it  was  an  unusually  splendid  affair.  The  general 
public  was  excluded,  the  opera  house  being  filled  with  a 
crowd  of  officers  in  gala  uniform  and  ladies  resplendent  with 
jewels.  The  Emperor  led  the  applause,  and  encored  a  waltz 
song  introduced  by  the  ravishing  Rosina  in  the  Lesson  Scene. 
The  performance  went  off  with  great  success,  but  there  was 
some  fuss -on  the  stage  afterwards,  when  it  was  discovered 
that  in  the  chorus  there  had  been  an  Englishman  who  had  paid 
one  of  the  choristers  a  heavy  bribe  to  allow  him  to  take  his 
place. 

iBagier's  arrangement  with  Patti  was  for  six  weeks  in  Madrid  and 
six  weeks  in  Paris  at  the  Th6atre-Italien. 


148  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

It  was  in  course  of  this  tour  through  Germany  that  Adelina 
Patti  essayed  for  the  first  time  the  part  of  Marguerite  in 
Gounod's  "Faust."  The  opera,  originally  produced  in  Paris 
in  March,  1859,  already  enjoyed  a  considerable  vogue  beyond 
the  Rhine.  Mile.  Patti  had  only  been  looking  ahead  when 
she  decided  to  be  ready  with  a  part  that  she  had  fallen  in 
love  with  in  Paris  the  previous  winter.  She  studied  it,  of 
course,  in  Italian,  that  being  then  her  only  operatic  language. 
The  supporting  company  sang  in  German;  but  that  made  no 
difference  whatever  to  an  eager  and  enthusiastic  public,  intent 
solely  on  listening  to  the  new  opera  and  the  new  "guest." 

The  first  performance  of  "Faust"  with  Patti  as  Oretchen 
took  place  at  Hamburg  in  October,  1863,  and,  according  to 
the  correspondent  of  the  Musical  World  (who  favored  London 
with  a  brief  account  of  an  event  which  then  interested  our 
metropolis  but  mildly)  :  "Her  success  as  Marguerite  was  un- 
precedented." She  subsequently  repeated  it  in  several  other 
German  cities,  appearing  at  the  same  time  with  Merelli's 
company  in  "II  Barbiere"  and  with  the  local  opera  troupe  in 
"Dinorah." 

Then  followed  Madrid  and  Paris.  In  neither  city  had  she 
the  slightest  intention  of  singing  her  new  role.  Nevertheless 
in  Paris  she  made  a  single  appearance,  in  the  third  act  only, 
on  some  special  occasion  in  April  of  1864.  The  Gazette 
Musicale,  in  recording  the  event,  observed  that,  "Like  Miolan- 
Carvalho,  she  wore  a  blonde  wig";  but  there  the  resemblance 
ended,  for  she  acted  with  "naive  enjoyment  and  childish 
coquetry,  in  place  of  being  always  pensive  and  dreamy." 

The  comparison  is  interesting,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the 
"proper"  reading  of  the  character,  especially  in  the  then 
notorious  Garden  Scene,  was  very  soon  to  become  a  burning 
question.  Mr.  Gye  had  not  reengaged  Miolan-Carvalho  for 
the  season  of  1864.  He  destined  Marguerite  for  the  gifted 
but  capricious  Pauline  Lucca,  who  had  made  a  hit  in  the 


MARGUERITE.    1864 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  149 

part  in  Berlin  and  Vienna.  Meanwhile,  in  May,  Patti  had 
made  her  rentree  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  in  "La  Sonnam- 
bula,"  and  had  broken  down  all  but  the  very  last  prejudice, 
triumphed  over  all  but  the  final  scintilla  of  adverse  criticism 
from  any  quarter  whatsoever.  Behold  Chorley's  penultimate 
genuflexion  in  the  pages  of  the  Athenamm: 

"Mile.  Patti  has  reappeared,  unquestionably  improved  since 
last  year.  Her  voice  has  ripened,  and  lost  almost  entirely 
that  phenomenon  (otherwise  prematurely  aged)  tone  which 
our  ears  till  now  have  heard  in  it  and  which  impaired  our 
pleasure  in  her  ease  and  agility.  Her  style  has  gained  some 
breadth,  her  acting  some  expression.  She  is  now  probably 
the  best  Amina  on  the  stage.  Yet  (of  course)  she  still  has  to 
chasten  her  taste  in  ornament." 

Later  came  the  revival  of  "Faust"  with  the  new  cast — the 
incomparable  Mario  in  the  title-role,  the  piquant  Pauline  Lucca 
as  Marguerite  (Margherita  she  was  always  called  in  this 
' ' Royal  Italian ' '  version) ,  and  Faure  as  Mephistopheles.  The 
rare  combination  proved  irresistible,  yet  pleased  the  public 
better  than  it  did  the  critics,  who  took  objection  to  the 
coquettish  freedom  and  "coming-on  disposition"  of  the 
Viennese  Gretchen.  They  thought  her  much  too  forward  in 
the  Garden  Scene,  far  too  "knowing"  to  captivate  so  refined 
and  gentlemanly  a  Faust  as  Mario. 

Pauline  Lucca  placed  more  value  on  the  verdict  of  the 
press  than  on  the  applause  of  her  audience.  So  likewise,  in 
this  instance,  did  Mr.  Gye,  who,  while  openly  sympathizing 
with  his  prima  donna,  was  sufficiently  alive  to  the  dangers  of 
the  situation  (might  not  the  Lord  Chamberlain  intervene?) 
to  look  around  for  a  possible  substitute  in  case  the  wilful 
Pauline  should  refuse  to  mollify  the  critics  by  modifying  her 
' '  business. ' ' 

She  did  refuse.  What  was  more,  she  took  umbrage  at  the 
attitude  of  every  one,  both  inside  and  outside  the  opera  house, 


150  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

and  declared  that  there  was  a  conspiracy  to  injure  her 
reputation.  She  declined  to  remain  any  longer  "in  a  town 
where  such  things  were  possible";  and  accordingly,  early  in 
the  month  of  June,  pleaded  ill  health  and  took  her  departure 
for  Berlin,  leaving  her  manager  in  the  lurch  and,  to  all  ap- 
pearance, shaking  the  dust  of  London  from  her  shoes  for  ever. 

But  another  Marguerite  was  ready  at  hand;  and  who  should 
she  prove  to  be  but  Mile.  Adelina  Patti?  Unexpected  by  the 
public,  unheralded  by  the  press,  as  the  interpreter  of  that 
most  interesting  of  new  heroines,  she  stepped  into  the  breach 
with  a  facility  that  astounded  all  but  her  intimate  friends, 
and  achieved  in  it  what  a  leading  critic  wras  pleased  to  term 
the  "crowning  glory  of  her  brilliant  career."1 

Now  was  the  movement  for  comparisons!  London  had 
heard  Tietjens  in  Gounod's  opera  at  Her  Majesty's,  Miolan- 
Carvalho  and  Pauline  Lucca  at  Covent  Garden.  What  did  it 
have  to  say  after  them  of  Patti  ?  Let  us  quote  first  the  out- 
spoken Chorley: 

We  are  as  much  delighted  as  surprised  by  the  last  of  the  Mar- 
garets. The  part  is  read  after  the  fashion  of  Mine.  Miolan-Carvalho, 
bnt  with  a  difference.  It  is  less  dreamy  than  hers,  without  the 
added  amount  of  spirit  and  life  taking  any  of  those  forms  which 
were  so  questionable  in  Mile.  Lucca's  personation.  Whether  her 
mood  was  to  be  timid  or  pensive,  to  be  touched  by  vanity  (as  in 
the  Garden  Scene),  to  be  tender,  impassioned,  remorseful  or  insane, 
Patti  was  always  refined;  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  she  satisfied 
our  public  more  thoroughly  than  any  of  her  predecessors.  The  bal- 
lad of  the  "Kiug  of  Thule"  was  given  with  a  "dainty,  sweet  mel- 
ancholy," yet  not  drawled;  the  jewel  song  (encored)  with  as  much 
young  grace  as  vocal  finish ;  and  a  charming  touch,  promising  great 
things  for  the  actress,  must  be  noticed  in  the  perpetual  reference  of 
her  eyes  to  the  miri'or  of  the  magical  box.  .  .  .  So,  too,  in  the  Gar- 
den Scene   (the  best  love  scene  in  opera  of  any  time),  her  avowal 

i  See  Appendix  S. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  151 

left  nothing  to  be  desired.  So,  again,  by  the  side  of  her  dying 
brother,  and  after,  in  the  Cathedral,  her  sorrow  and  passion  were 
admirable  and  real,  because  unforced.  Obviously,  every  note  of  the 
music,  eveiy  word  of  the  text,  every  change  of  the  situation,  had 
been  thought  over  and  been  felt  by  the  artist. 

In  a  similar  strain  a  writer  in  the  Musical  Times  thus  pro- 
claimed his  preference : 

The  great  success  during  the  past  month  at  the  Royal  Italian 
Opera  has  been  the  Margherita  of  Mile.  Patti  in  Gounod's  ever- 
welcome  opera  "Faust."  So  sudden  are  the  "disappearances"  at  this 
establishment  that  the  subscribers  can  scarcely  calculate  that  the 
same  cast  will  be  repeated  on  two  successive  evenings ;  it  is  fortu- 
nate, therefore,  that  Mile.  Patti  could  so  perfectly  fill  the  place  left 
vacant  by  Mile.  Lucca,  and  indeed  present  us  with  even  a  more  per- 
fect representation  of  Goethe's  peasant  girl  than  that  of  her  prede- 
cessor in  the  part.  In  many  positions  of  the  opera  Mile.  Patti 
more  thoroughly  satisfied  us,  both  vocally  and  histrionically,  than 
any  Margherita  has  yet  done. 

Davison  was  tremendously  pleased.  In  course  of  a  long 
notice  in  the  Times  he  wrote:  "Poetical  conception  and  fin- 
ished execution  were  never  more  happily  united.  Goethe  must 
have  had  the  picture  of  such  a  Gretchen  in  his  mind's  eye." 

And,  finally,  the  whole  achievement  was  summed  up  in  the 
following  manner  by  the  critic  of  the  Weekly  Despatch : 

Her  delineation  of  Margaret  has  thrown  its  beholders  into  a  de- 
lirium surpassing  all  they  have  yet  experienced.  And  really  they 
have  much  excuse,  for  the  performance  is  so  wonderful  that  it  is 
difficult  to  describe  it  without  partaking  of  their  excess.  ...  It  set- 
tles pretty  effectually  the  true  view  of  the  character.  We  shall  hear 
no  more  of  the  absurd  "realism"  of  Mile.  Pauline  Lucca.  She  as 
little  runs  into  the  extreme  of  coldness,  which  was  the  fault  of  Mme. 
Miolan-Carvalho,  as  into  the  strange  and  indefensible  levity  of 
Mile.  Lucca.  .  .  .  She  alone  presents  the  heroine  of  Goethe  and 
Gounod  in  her  entirety. 


L52  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  curious  part  of  it  all  is  that,  in  spite  of  these  candid 
comparisons,  and  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  Patti,  Mario, 
and  Faure  continued  to  attract  overflowing  houses  in  "Faust" 
until  mid-August,  the  whole  of  the  disagreeable  features 
of  the  episode  were  immediately  forgotten.  When  Pauline 
Lucca  went  off  to  Berlin  she  filled  the  German  newspapers 
with  Anglophobic  diatribes  of  the  most  virulent  kind,  and 
declared  she  would  never  return  to  "that  city  of  fog  and 
decayed  vegetables" — herein  cm  kindly  alluding,  of  course, 
to  the  close  propinquity  existing  between  London's  leading 
opera  house  and  Covent  Garden  Market. 

But,  in  the  operatic  as  in  the  diplomatic  world,  it  is  usually 
the  unexpected  that  happens.  In  both  spheres  quarrels  are 
healed  as  if  by  magic.  Not  only  did  Mile.  Lucca  return  to 
Mr.  Gye's  establishment  in  1865,  but  she  actually  made  her 
rentrce  there  in  a  slightly  modified  and  now  wholly  acceptable 
delineation  of  Margherita,  Thenceforward  for  some  twenty 
years  she  remained  a  member  of  the  company,  grew  quite 
fond  of  the  English  people,  and  professed  perfect  content- 
ment with  her  share  of  the  honors  in  -whatever  opera  she 
sang. 

Meanwhile  the  winter  of  1864-65  saw  Patti  earning  addi- 
tional laurels  in  Paris,  with  "Linda  di  Chamouni"  for  her 
newest  and  most  fascinating  opera.  The  Parisians  were  par- 
ticularly partial  to  Donizetti  (had  he  not,  in  1840,  written 
for  them  two  of  his  masterpieces,  "La  Favorite"  and  "La 
Fille  du  Regiment"?),  and  their  delight  over  the  young  diva's 
impersonation  of  Linda  knew  no  bounds.  So  overwhelming 
was  the  demand  to  hear  her  that  the  season  had  to  be  pro- 
longed into  February,  despite  the  fact  that  all  Spain,  with 
"Faust"  and  Mario,  was  impatiently  awaiting  her  advent 
at  Madrid.     In  the  final  week  she  sang  three  times — first  in 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  153 

"II  Barbiere, "  introducing  in  the  Lesson  Scene  a  Spanish 
ariette  by  Rossini,  called  "A  Grenade";  secondly  in  a  "bene- 
fit ' '  programme  of  scenes  from  four  operas ;  and  lastly  in 
"Linda,"  which  drew  the  largest  crowd  and  the  biggest  re- 
ceipts of  the  season. 

Yet  even  then  she  did  not  go  direct  to  Madrid,  having  first 
to  carry  out  a  brief  provincial  tour  in  France.  She  was  two 
nights  at  Lille,  for  instance,  appearing  in  the  "Barbiere"  and 
"Lucia";  and  there,  one  reads,  "The  sensation  she  created 
was  so  overwhelming  that  immense  crowds  followed  her  from 
the  theatre  to  the  hotel,  where  Orpheons  and  the  opera  band 
serenaded  her  until  far  into  the  night. ' '  Not  until  the  fourth 
week  in  March  was  she  able  to  start  upon  her  engagement  in 
the  Spanish  capital,  and,  late  as  it  was,  "Faust"  and  Mario 
still  had  to  wait  until  the  little  lady  had  made  her  stipulated 
reappearance  in  "La  Sonnambula." 

Six  weeks  after  this  she  was  back  in  England  for  the  Royal 
Italian  Opera  season  of  1865,  uniting  the  joys  of  home  with 
the  gratification  of  ever-increasing  esteem  and  admiration  on 
the  part  of  her  London  critics.  Writing  of  her  return  (May 
13)  in  "II  Barbiere,"  with  Mario  as  Almaviva  and  Ronconi 
as  Figaro,  Davison  said  in  the  Times: 

Happily,  though  petted,  Mile.  Patti  is  by  no  means  spoiled.  This 
is  apparent  in  the  progress  she  is  continually  making.  No  lyric 
comedienne  at  present  on  the  boards  tries  harder  to  perfect  herself 
— to  make  herself  mistress,  in  short,  of  all  the  requirements  indis- 
pensable to  her  recognition  as  an  artist  of  the  first  class.  Nature 
has  not  only  bountifully  provided  her  with  the  physical  means,  but 
also  with  the  rare  gift  of  original  genius.  She  can  not  only  master 
with  incredible  ease  whatever  is  set  down  for  her,  but  invents  for 
herself. 

Again,  when  she  sang  in  "Linda  di  Chamouni"  for  the 
first  time  at  Covent  Garden  (June  6),  the  same  writer  de- 


154  Till:   REIGN  OF  PATTI 

clared  that  her  "delineation  of  the  heroine  was  another  fin- 
ished picture  added  to  a  gallery  already  richly  stored  with 
gems, — in  short,  an  exhibition  of  the  highest  art." 

The  cast,  in  addition  to  Ronconi,  Graziani,  and  Capponi, 
included  the  tenor  Brignoli,  who,  it  will  be  remembered,  had 
been  the  Edgardo  of  the  "Lucia"  performance  in  which  the 
youthful  Adelina  made  her  operatic  debut  in  New  York  five 
and  a  half  years  previously.  Things  had  changed  indeed  since 
then ! 

On  May  23,  1865,  Mile.  Patti  made  her  second  appearance 
at  a  State  Concert  at  Buckingham  Palace,  taking  part  in  a 
selection  from  Mendelssohn's  music  to  "A  Midsummer  Night's 
Dream."  She  sang  the  air,  "Ye  spotted  snakes,"  and  in 
the  finale  with  chorus.  From  this  time  forward  she  appeared 
by  Queen  Victoria's  command  at  nearly  every  State  Concert 
for  twenty  years  in  succession.  The  programmes  compiled  by 
Messrs.  Anderson  and  Cusins — each  in  turn  the  Queen's 
"Master  of  the  Musick" — were  invariably  distinguished  by 
special  features,  dear  to  the  music-lovers  of  those  times,  where- 
in the  diva  was  naturally  the  central  figure.  To  give  them 
all  would  occupy  too  much  space,  but  it  will  be  convenient  to 
enumerate  here  a  few  of  the  more  notable  items  with  which 
the  name  of  Adelina  Patti  is  associated: 

1865  (June  21),  State  Concert:  in  trio,  "Hearts  feel  that  love  thee," 
from  Mendelssohn's  "Athalie,"  with  Parepa  and  Trebelli. 

1866  (June  26),  State  Concert:  in  quintet  from  Mozart's  "Flauto 
Magico,"  with  Vilda,  Trebelli,  Bettini,  and  Santley;  in  an  air 
from  Benedict's  "Undine";  and  in  her  own  ballad,  "On  Part- 
ing." 

1867  (June  18),  State  Concert:  in  quintet  from  Mozart's  "Cosi  fan 
Tutte";  in  "Terzetto  in  Canone"  by  Costa;  and  in  duet,  "Sull' 
aria,"  with  Pauline  Lucca. 

1868  (June  19),  State  Concert:  in  quartet  from  Bennett's  "Woman 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  155 

of  Samaria,"  with  Drasdil,  W.  H.  Cummings,  and   Santley; 
and  in  duet,  "Sull'  aria,"  with  Christine  Nilsson. 

1869  (Jane  23),  State  Concert:  ensemble  including  Patti,  Nilsson, 
Tietjens,  Monbelli,  Trebelli,  Gardoni,  Bettini,  and  Santley;  and 
in  duet,  "Quis  est  homo,"  with  Trebelli. 

1870  (July  6),  State  Concert:  air  with  two  flutes  from  "L'Etoile  du 
Nord." 

1871  (May  15),  State  Concert:  in  duet  from  "La  Gazza  Ladra," 
with  Trebelli;  in  quintet  from  "Cosi  fan  Tutte"  with  others, 
including  the  tenor  Stockhausen,  who  also  sang  "Der  Wan- 
derer" with  orchestral  accompaniment  by  F.  Hiller. 

1872  (July  4),  at  Windsor  Castle:  in  duet,  "La  ci  darem,"  with 
Faure;  in  madrigal  from  "Romeo,"  with  Victor  Capoul;  and 
"Home,  sweet  home"  by  the  Queen's  request.  Also  (June  5), 
State  Concert :  in  trio  from  "Dinorah"  with  Bettini  and  Gra- 
ziani. 

1873  (July  10),  concert  at  Buckingham  Palace:  soprano  solo  in  the 
Prince  Consort's  cantata,  "L'Invocazione  all'  Armonia";  other 
solos  by  Trebelli,  Capoul,  and  Maurel. 

1875  (June  23),  State  Concert:  in  trio  from  "II  Matrimonio  Se- 
greto"  with  Zare  Thalberg  and  Trebelli;  and  in  madrigal  from 
"Romeo"  with  Nicolini. 

1876  (June  25),  State  Concert:  in  above  trio  with  Christine  Nilsson 
and  Trebelli. 

1879  (June  16),  State  Concert:  in  solo  pieces  only. 

1880  (June  29),  State  Concert:  in  selection  from  Gounod's  "Mi- 
reille"  with  Nicolini;  and  "Valse  des  Bluets"  from  Cohen's 
"Estrella." 

1882  (June  28),  State  Concert:  in  duet  from  Lenepveu's  "Velleda" 
with  Nicolini;  ensemble  further  including  Pauline  Lucca,  Tre- 
belli, Joseph  Maas,  and  Edouard  de  Reszke. 

1886  (June  23),  State  Concert:  in  duet  from  "Semiramide"  with 
Trebelli. 

A  word  here  as  to  conductors.  After  Sir  Michael  Costa  left 
Covent  Garden  in  1871,  his  place  was  filled,  until  the  close 
of  the  Gye  regime,  by  two  admirable  orchestral  leaders,  Vianesi 


156  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

and  Bevignani,  who  shared  between  them  the  duty  of  directing 
the  operas  in  which  Mme.  Patti  appeared.  Bevignani  was 
an  exquisite  accompanist,  and  she  preferred  him  for  all  the 
lighter  operas,  in  which  his  intimate  knowledge  of  her  daring 
vocal  flights,  roulades,  variations,  points-d'orgue,  cadenzas 
(both  studied  and  improvised),  et  hoc  genus  omne  enabled  him 
to  maintain  perfect  unity  between  the  singer  and  the  orchestra. 
Vianesi  was  more  at  home  in  grand  opera,  a  clever  conductor 
of  Meyerbeer,  of  the  later  Verdi,  and  even  of  early  Wagner, 
lie  held  the  baton  at  Covent  Garden,  Paris,  Brussels,  and  New 
York  in  turn,  while  Bevignani  officiated  at  St.  Petersburg  and 
Moscow.  These,  then,  were  the  conductors  most  constantly 
associated  with  the  great  prima  donna  .during  the  best  part 
of  her  European  stage  career.  Luigi  Arditi  was  to  come 
later,  with  the  bonanza  years  in  which  the  American  continent 
was  revisited. 


PATTI,    MARIO,    AND    FAURE    IX    "FAUST" 


CHAPTER  XII 

Debut  at  the  Handel  Festival  (1865) — Patti  as  an  Oratorio  Singer — 
Her  First  "Grand  Morning  Concert" — Her  "Home,  sweet  home" — A 
Susanna  that  Never  Materialized — First  Tour  in  Italy — How  Nicolini 
Came  and  Went — Covent  Garden  Seasons  from  1866  to  1870 — Mario 
and  Patti  in  "Romeo" — Ten  Years'  Work  in  London — The  Marquis  de 
Caux — A  Courtship  under  Imperial  Auspices — Marriage  at  Clapham — 
Patti  and  Alboni  Sing  at  Rossini's  Funeral — Visit  to  Russia — The 
Coalition  Season  of  1869 — Verdi's  "Giovanna  d'Arco" 

IN  the  summer  of  1865  Adelina  Patti  sang  at  the  Handel 
Festival  for  the  first  time.  The  great  triennial  celebration 
held  at  the  Crystal  Palace  was  then  at  the  height  of  its  glory, 
and  this  was  perhaps  the  only  imaginable  feature  that  could 
have  enhanced  it.  It  seems  to  have  done  so.  Among  the  jour- 
nals that  reported  the  exciting  incidents  of  the  festival  at  col- 
umns' length  daily,  one  solemnly  declared  that  "the  presence 
and  cooperation  of  the  diva  imparted  fresh  eclat  to  this 
national  musical  gathering."  Another  echoed  the  general 
opinion  when  he  wrote :  ' '  Since  the  days  of  Clara  Novello  no 
such  penetrating  and  magnificent  soprano  tones  had  been 
heard  within  the  glass  edifice  of  the  Crystal  Palace." 

The  conductor  of  the  Handel  Festival — a  commemorative 
event  inaugurated  in  1857  and  now  being  held  for  the  fourth 
time  only — was  Sir  Michael  Costa.  It  was  thanks  to  his 
influence  (and  he  was  not  less  powerful  here  than  at  the  Opera 
or  at  Exeter  Hall  or  at  Birmingham)  that  the  combined  com- 
mittees of  the  Sacred  Harmonic  Society  and  the  Crystal  Pal- 
ace agreed  to  pay  Mile.  Patti  her  terms  for  singing  at  all 
of  the  three  concerts.  They  never  expected  to  recoup  their 
outlay.     However,  as  it  turned  out,  Costa's  advice  proved  to 

157 


158  THE   REIGN  OF  PATTI 

have  been  thoroughly  sound.  Attendance  and  receipts  alike 
beat  the  record ;  while,  even  among  the  giants  of  oratorio  that 
flourished  in  the  sixties  the  versatile  cantatrice  of  twenty-two 
did  something  more  than  merely  hold  her  own. 

Let  us  note  the  names  of  a  few  of  those  giants.  At  the 
festival  of  1859  the  soloists  had  all  been  famous  singers — 
Mme.  Clara  Novello,  Mine.  Rudersdorff,  Mme.  Lemmens-Sher- 
rington,  Miss  Dolby,  Mr.  Sims  Reeves,  Signor  Belletti,  and 
Mr.  Weiss.  In  1862  the  same  artists  appeared  again,  with 
the  exception  of  Mme.  Rudersdorff,  who  was  replaced  by  the 
gifted  Theresa  Tietjens — then  comparatively  new  to  oratorio, 
although  a  great  operatic  favorite — and  Mme.  Parepa  (sub- 
sequently the  first  wife  of  Carl  Rosa),  another  celebrated 
oratorio  soprano.  At  the  Festival  of  1865  Mile.  Patti  was 
associated  with  the  last-named  artist;  with  Mme.  Lemmens- 
Sherrington,  Mme.  Sainton-Dolby,  and  Mr.  Sims  Reeves ;  and 
with  two  other  English  singers,  Mr.  Santley  and  Mr.  W.  H. 
Cummings,  who  now  made  their  debuts  at  this  festival.  At 
subsequent  gatherings  some  of  these  names  were  to  fall  out 
and  others  take  their  place — such,  for  example,  as  Trebelli, 
Patey,  Edith  Wynne,  Albani,  Edward  Lloyd,  Vernon  Ribgy, 
Agnesi,  and  Foli.  But  the  standard  of  the  soloists  at  the 
Handel  Festival  always  remained  at  the  highest  until  the 
supply  had  become  exhausted. 

Patti 's  success,  as  has  been  stated,  was  extraordinary.  It 
owed  something,  of  course,  to  her  personal  charm,  to  the 
glamour  that  attached  to  her  name  and  her  preeminence  as 
an  opera  singer.  But  what  really  fascinated  her  twenty-five 
thousand  auditors  at  the  Festival  of  1865  was  the  resonant 
timbre,  the  surpassing  loveliness  of  a  voice  that  penetrated  to 
the  farthest  recesses  of  the  Centre  Transept,  together  with  a 
breadth  of  style  and  clearness  of  diction  not  unworthy  of  the 
best  traditions  of  English  oratorio. 

The  question  has  often  been  asked,  was  Adelina  Patti  a 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  159 

typical  Handelian  vocalist,  let  us  say,  in  the  sense  that  Clara 
Novello  and  Tietjens  were?  The  answer  to  that  must  be  in 
the  negative.  Yet  it  may  be  just  as  emphatically  asserted  that 
she  was  a  serious  and  dignified  interpreter  of  oratorio  music. 
If  she  did  not  pursue  that  branch  of  her  art  to  the  same  extent 
as  did  most  of  her  gifted  contemporaries  in  Great  Britain, 
it  was  not  through  lack  of  the  essential  qualities,  but  rather 
because  her  natural  bent  did  not  lie  in  the  direction  of 
oratorio.  Her  artistic  nature  yearned,  above  all  things,  for 
the  stage  as  an  outlet  for  dramatic  expression;  in  the  expo- 
sition of  character  or  musical  drama  she  chafed  under  the 
narrower  limitations  of  the  concert  platform. 

It  was  this  demand  for  freedom  to  "express"  in  her  own 
way  that  caused  her  animated  execution  of  Handelian  runs 
or  "divisions"  to  displease  some  of  the  purists,  It  was  not 
because  the  notes  were  not  sung  crisply  or  clearly  enough,  but 
because  her  time  was  not  always  strictly  metronomic ;  because 
she  could  not  resist  making  a  slight  rubato  occasionally,  or 
imparting  to  her  fuoriture  something  of  the  dash  and  elan  of 
the  operatic  cadenza.  Then  again,  hers  was  not  the  manner 
of  the  motionless  declaimer  of  that  time  or  the  statuesque 
Lied er-singer  of  more  modern  daj's.  She  was  wont  to  enhance 
the  significance  of  a  vocal  passage  with  some  slight  gesture 
or  physical  action  dictated  by  irresistible  dramatic  impulse ; 
and  all  such  "aids  to  effect,"  whether  spontaneous  or  not, 
were  considered  out  of  place  in  oratorio. 

Nevertheless,  even  the  purists  of  the  sixties  were  fain  to 
utter  paeans  of  joyful  welcome  when  the  bright  particular 
star  of  opera  made  her  first  courtesy  before  the  expectant 
multitude  at  the  Handel  Festival.  The  glorious  ringing  tone 
of  such  a  voice  as  hers,  standing  out  high  and  clear  amid  the 
huge  volume  of  sound  created  by  a  choir  of  three  thousand 
voices  and  an  orchestra  of  five  hundred,  was  too  wonderful  in 


160  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

its  dynamic  fitness  and  grandeur  to  leave  a  loophole  for  ad- 
verse criticism.  Moreover,  the  general  verdict  regarding  her 
oratorio  style  was  far  from  being  unfavorable. 

At  this  gathering  Adelina  Patti  sang  the  solos  in  the 
"Messiah"  for  the  first  time;  and  the  test  under  the  circum- 
stances was  a  severe  one.  Yet  James  Davison,  the  greatest 
stickler  in  England  for  traditional  oratorio  singing,  and  a 
harder  festival  critic  than  even  Henry  Chorley,  declared  in 
the  Times  that  he  had  "seldom  listened  to  a  more  perfect 
execution  of  'Rejoice  greatly.'  '  He  added:  "It  would  be 
hypercritical  to  wish  for  a  more  thoroughly  devotional  reading 
of  'I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth'  than  that  of  Mile.  Adelina 
Patti,  who,  without  any  straining  after  effect,  brought  con- 
viction to  the  mind." 

No  small  achievement,  this,  for  a  still  youthful  prima  donna 
reared  amid  the  demonstrative  conventions  of  the  Italian 
operatic  stage.  And  she  followed  it  up  with  another  triumph 
on  the  Selection  Day  of  the  Festival,  when  she  sang  two  of 
the  Saxon  master's  most  familiar  airs.  The  event  was  thus 
referred  to  in  the  leading  musical  organ : l 

In  the  selection  from  "Samson"  on  Selection  Day  the  great  suc- 
cess was  reserved  for  Mile.  Patti,  who  gave  the  celebrated  "Let  the 
bright  Seraphim"  so  charmingly  that  the  audience  was  enraptured, 
and  insisted  upon  an  encore.  Not  only  the  fresh,  beautiful  voice  of 
Mile.  Patti,  but  the  silvery  tones  of  Mr.  Harper's  trumpet,  pene- 
trated every  part  of  the  vast  area.  ...  In  the  selection  from  "Judas 
Maceabams"  she  gave  the  air  "From  mighty  Kings"  with  an  artistic 
finish  that  thoroughly  satisfied  every  listener. 

Finally,  on  the  Friday  she  took  part  in  the  performance  of 
"Israel  in  Egypt,"  and  made  an  especial  hit  in  "Thou  didst 
blow  with  the  wind,"  which  she  sang,  happily,  with  her  own 
excellent  English  accent — not  the  kind  of  "zou"  and  "zee" 

i  Musical  Times,  August,  18G5. 


z 

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w 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  161 

prescribed  by  her  distinguished  relative,  Maurice  Strakosch. 
Her  pronunciation,  in  fact,  was  so  good  that  Davison  made  a 
direct  allusion  to  it  in  the  Times  when  referring  to  her  delivery 
of  the  solo  verse  in  the  National  Anthem  at  the  close  of  the 
concert.  "She  sang  it,"  he  said,  "with  the  fervour  and  em- 
phasis of  a  loyal  and  genuine  British  subject,  which  she  ought 
surely  to  be,  or  she  could  hardly  pronounce  English  so  ad- 
mirably." 

The  first  typical  Patti  concert  ever  given  in  London  took 
place  in  London  on  July  5,  1865,  at  the  then  newly  erected 
St.  James's  Hall  in  Regent  Street,  now  the  site  of  the  Picca- 
dilly Hotel.  It  was,  of  course,  under  the  management  of 
Mr.  Gye,  who  paid  all  the  artists  (including  the  concert-giver 
herself),  took  all  the  risks  (!),  and  pocketed  the  receipts. 
The  programme  was  of  the  miscellaneous  order  hereafter  to  be 
associated  with  a  long  succession  of  such  "grand  morning 
concerts."  It  made  no  pretence  at  attaining  a  lofty  artistic 
plane,  and,  had  it  done  so,  it  would  have  offered  no  attraction 
to  the  public.  Occasionally  in  the  years  to  come  the  services 
of  an  orchestra  would  be  called  in.  Not  so  yet,  however.  A 
pianoforte  amply  sufficed  for  the  accompaniments. 

On  the  occasion  now  referred  to  Mile.  Patti  was  assisted 
by  operatic  stars  of  the  first  magnitude, — including  Pauline 
Lucca,  Mario,  Brignoli,  Graziani, — so  no  wonder  the  papers 
described  it  as  "one  of  the  most  brilliant  affairs  of  the  sea- 
son." We  have  no  difficulty  in  believing  the  statement  of 
one  of  the  musical  journals1  that  "The  remarkable  popu- 
larity of  Mile.  Patti  and  the  charm  about  her,  apart  from 
those  powers  which  make  her  singing  so  specially  attractive, 
were  quite  enough  to  secure  a  large  audience." 

And  what  did  she  sing?  Things  wherein  the  perennial 
Patti  was  to  be  heard  "many  a  time  and  oft"  in  after  years. 

iQrehestra,  July  8,  1865. 


162  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Among  them,  for  the  very  first  time  in  London,  was  the  new 
and  in  later  years  much-criticized  "Ave  Maria,"  or  so-called 
"Meditation,"  founded  by  Gounod  upon  Bach's  first  prelude, 
the  violin  obbligato  played  by  that  fine  old  artist,  Prosper 
Sainton,  who  had  not  long  before  married  the  contralto,  Miss 
Dolby.  Another  novelty  was  the  pretty  but  trivial  romance, 
"Si  vous  n'avez  rien  a  me  dire,"  by  Baroness  Willy  de  Roths- 
child— afterwards  to  become  so  popular  that  for  years  it  en- 
riched the  repertoire  of  every  singing  damsel  who  thought 
she  could  warble  in  French. 

Furthermore,  at  this  "grand  morning"  affair  Adelina  Patti 
gave  in  her  own  inimitable  manner:  "Within  a  mile  o'  Edin- 
boro  town"  and  "Comin'  thro'  the  rye!"  And  what  of 
"Home,  sweet  home"?  Yes,  even  now  it  was  present  and 
inevitable.  She  sang  it  as  an  encore  to  the  French  romance, 
just  as  she  had  sung  it  in  her  American  days  of  childhood; 
and  as  she  was  to  sing  it,  beyond  chance  of  escape,  until  the 
ultimate  Albert  Hall  concert  and  the  parting  farewell.  Yet 
without  "Home,  sweet  home,"  her  first  London  concert 
would  have  been  no  less  incomplete  than  the  last.  For  to  hear 
Patti,  at  any  period  of  her  long  career,  in  "Home,  sweet 
home,"  was  an  experience  of  which  the  most  blase  musical 
cynic  never  seemed  to  tire.  That  simple  achievement  brought 
the  public  of  two  continents  to  her  feet. 

A  thousand  pens  have  attempted  to  describe  her  way  of 
singing  Bishop's  unpretending  melody;  but  it  was  always 
indescribable.  Words  have  never  conveyed  the  full  sense  of 
its  unique  charm  and  exquisite  pathos,  or'  solved  the  riddle  of 
its  touching  appeal.  The  miracle  was  first  recorded  in  her 
childhood,  and  she  never  altered  the  manner  of  its  perform- 
ance. Least  of  all  did  she  herself  realize  the  exact  manner 
in  which  it  was  done.  It  belonged  to  those  classic  examples 
of  executive  art  that  are  unforgettable  because  they  are  spon- 
taneous, inspired,  effortless,  and'  at  the  same  time  replete  with 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  163 

the  purest  beauty.  There  are  things  that  the  artist  never 
does  twice  alike.  Patti's  "Home,  sweet  home,"  was  ever 
exactly  the  same.     And  yet,  it  never  palled. 

Another  item  in  the  scheme  of  this  first  "grand  morning 
concert"  is  worthy  of  mention  here,  not  merely  for  the  mem- 
ories that  it  calls  up,  but  because  it  brings  to  mind  the  story 
of  an  unfulfilled  promise.  The  item  in  question  was  the  duet 
"Sull'aria"  from  Mozart's  "Figaro,"  which  Adelina  Patti 
now  sang  for  the  first  time  (but  not  the  last  by  many)  with 
Pauline  Lucca.  She  loved  it  as  "a  gem  of  purest  ray  se- 
rene," and  would  rarely  miss  the  chance  of  singing  it  with 
some  other  famous  soprano  when  one  was  in  the  same  concert 
"bill."  Among  those  associated  with  her  at  various  times 
in  "Sull'aria,"  besides  Lucca,  were  Christine  Nilsson,  Theresa 
Tietjens,  Marguerite  Artot,  Marcella  Sembrich,  and  Emma 
Albani.  Nevertheless,  despite  her  love  of  Mozart,  her  ac- 
knowledged preeminence  as  an  interpreter  of  his  music,  and 
the  incomparable  perfection  of  her  Zerlina,  she  never 
appeared  in  any  of  his  operas  other  than  "Don  Giovanni." 

This  circumstance  is  not  easy  to  explain.  In  more  than 
one  Covent  Garden  prospectus  Mr.  Gye  gave  out  that  she 
would  appear  during  the  season  as  Susanna  in  "Le  Nozze  di 
Figaro."  It  is  therefore  reasonable  to  assume  that  she  had 
studied  the  part  and  had  every  intention  of  singing  it.  Yet 
this  promise  was  never  carried  into  execution. 

Mozart's  comic  masterpiece  was  first  announced  for  revival 
at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  with  the  new  Susanna  in  1865. 
It  was  not  then,  however,  mounted  at  all ;  and  in  the  following 
year  it  was  again  included  in  the  prospectus  with  an  explan- 
atory note  thus  quaintly  worded: 

The  large  number  of  rehearsals  necessary  to  the  production  last 
season  of  the  great  opera  of  the  "Africaine"  unfortunately  caused 


164  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

the  postponement  of  this  favorite  opera — probably  next  to  "Don 
Giovanni"  the  most  popular  work  which  Mozart  has  bequeathed  to 
us.     "Le  Nozze  di  Figaro"  will  be  given  with  the  following  cast : 

Susanna Mile.  Adelina  Patti. 

(Her  First  Appearance  in  that  Character.) 
La  Contessa Mile.  Artot. 

(Her  First  Appearance  in  that  Character  in  England.) 
Cherubino Mile.  Pauline  Lucca. 

(Her  First  Appearance  in  that  Character  in  England.) 

II  Conte Signor  Graziani. 

Basilio Signor  Neri-Baraldi. 

Bartolo Signor  Ronconi. 

AND 

Figaro Monsieur  Faur«. 

(His  First  Appearance  in  that  Character.) 

Alas  that  such  a  glorious  project  should  not  have  been 
realized!  The  above  combination  would  have  put  even  the 
memorable  "Don  Giovanni"  cast  into  the  shade,  not  to  speak 
of  introducing  a  sprightly  and  lovable  Susanna  whom  the 
whole  world  would  have  adored.  But  it  was  not  to  be.  The 
moment  passed. 

Opera-goers  consoled  themselves  with  Pauline  Lucca's 
delicious  and  inimitable  Cherubino,  and  only  after  the  gifted 
Viennese  soprano  had  retired  from  the  scene  did  Mme.  Patti 
bethink  her  of  adding  to  her  repertoire  "Voi  che  sapete." 
That  was  not  till  the  nineties.  But  it  took  its  place  quite  nat- 
urally beside  "Batti,  batti,"  and  "Vedrai  carino,"  and  she 
sang  it  with  no  less  charm  and  distinction  of  style — the  real 
Patti  charm  and  the  true  Mozart  style ! 

Towards  the  end  of  1865,  after  tours  in  Germany  and 
Holland,  came  a  visit  to  Italy — the  first  yet  paid  by  the  young 
prima  donna  to  her  parents'  native  land;  that  "land  of 
song"  which  had  for  some  time  been  clamoring  loudly  to  see 


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THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  165 

and  hear  her.  She  was  told  to  prepare  for  a  rapturous 
Italian  welcome,  and  she  got  it.  They  crossed  the  Alps  by 
the  Mont  Cenis  route,  going  over  the  pass  and  returning  by 
the  new  tunnel,  which  had  not  long  been  completed.  They 
spent  their  Christmas  in  Turin — a  right  merry  party,  with 
"Papa"  at  the  head  of  the  table,  and  "Maurice"  and  two 
or  three  invited  guests  to  toast  the  joyous  Adelina  in  ' '  Barolo ' ' 
and  champagne. 

There  still  survives,  as  this  book  is  written, — in  the  person 
of  her  companion,  Karolyn  Baumeister,  who  came  to  her  in 
September,  1865, — one  who  remembers  the  extraordinary 
scenes  of  enthusiasm  enacted  in  the  theatres  of  Florence, 
Bologna,  Rome,  and  Turin  when  the  "fanatical"  opera-lovers 
of  those  cities  first  heard  Patti  in  "Sonnambula"  and  the 
"Traviata";  how  they  shouted  and  applauded  and  wept  like 
children  with  sheer  delight ;  how  they  followed  her  carriage  in 
thousands  from  the  stage-door  to  the  hotel,  where  they  se- 
renaded her  till  they  were  tired.  Nothing  like  it  had  been 
witnessed  before,  even  in  keen,  excitable  Italy;  and  the  im- 
pression of  it  was  never  forgotten. 

In  1866  Mr.  Gye's  prospectus  again  promised  so  much  which 
he  did  not  follow  up  with  deeds  that  it  is  refreshing  to  men- 
tion one  item  in  particular  that  actually  did  materialize, 
namely,  the  debut  of  Signor  Nicolini,  the  handsome  and  accom- 
plished French  tenor  who,  twenty  years  later,  was  to  become 
the  husband  of  the  heroine  of  this  chronicle. 

He  made  his  first  bow  before  a  London  audience  (on  May 
21,  1866)  at  a  concert  given  at  St.  James's  Hall  by  Pauline 
Lucca ;  and,  oddly  enough,  when  he  made  his  first  appearance 
at  Covent  Garden  eight  days  later,  the  Lucia  to  whom  he 
sang  Edgardo  was  no  less  a  person  than  Adelina  Patti.  In 
neither  instance,  however,  did  the  new  tenor  create  a  favorable 
impression. 

The  following  is  a  fair  sample  of  the  notices  that  appeared : 


166  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

On  Tuesday,  May  29,  "Lucia  di  Lamniennoor '  was  performed  with 
Mile.  Patti  for  the  first  time  this  year  as  the  heroine,  the  part  of 
Edgardo  being  sustained  by  a  new  candidate  for  fame  from  Paris, 
of  whom  report  had  spoken  favorably — Signor  Nieolini.  This  gen- 
tleman cannot,  however,  be  said  to  have  made  much  more  than  a 
succes  d'estime.  His  voice — being  by  no  means  of  the  highest  qual- 
ity— evidently  disappointed  the  majority  of  his  hearers.  One  of  the 
chief  faults  of  Signor  Nicolini's  method  is  to  be  discovered  in  his 
yielding  much  too  incessantly  to  a  habit  of  tremulousness,  which  so 
many  modern  singers  take  to  be  the  only  one  means  for  the  demon- 
stration of  passion.  His  tone  is,  however,  true,  and  his  execution 
facile,  besides  which  he  has  other  considerable  attractions,  his  stage 
figure  being  good,  and  his  manner,  although  energetic,  refined.  .  .  . 
That  Signor  Nieolini,  like  Brignoli,  Fancelli,  Lucchesi,  and  Neri- 
Baraldi,  will  become  more  than  a  useful  addition  to  the  tenors  of 
the  Royal  Italian  Opera  is  scarcely  probable.1 

In  short,  the  verdict  of  the  critics  was  so  discouraging  that 
Mr.  Gye  did  not  hesitate  to  cancel  the  new  tenor's  contract. 
Signor  Nieolini  went  back  to  France,  and  appeared  in  London 
no  more  until  the  spring  of  1871.  He  then  came  over  with 
the  crowd  of  refugees  who  managed  to  escape  the  horrors  of 
the  siege  of  Paris,  and  Mj\  Mapleson,  who  was  giving  Italian 
opera  at  Drury  Lane,  allowed  him  another  chance  of  winning 
a  name  for  himself  here.  This  time  he  succeeded.  He  had 
not  got  rid  of  his  tremolo.  He  was  never  to  do  so.  But  the 
general  opinion  was  that  his  singing  had  improved  and  that 
he  had  become  a  splendid  actor. 

It  was  during  this  season  that  I  heard  Nieolini  for  the  first 
time.  He  was  my  first  Faust,  and  a  better-looking  one  it 
has  never  been  my  lot  to  behold.  His  likeness  to  Mario 
in  the  character  was  remarkable.  The  Marguerite  was  a  very 
captivating  French  soprano  named  Leon-Duval.  By  the  way, 
Nicolini's  debut  at  Drury  Lane,  which  Mapleson  erroneously 

i  From  the  current  number  of  Orchestra. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  167 

calls  his  first  appearance  in  England,1  was  made  in  Meyer- 
beer's "Robert  le  Diable."  His  success  led  to  his  reengage- 
ment  by  Mr.  Gye,  and  he  duly  reappeared  at  Covent  Garden 
in  the  following  year — 1872.  Thenceforward  he  became  a 
permanent  member  of  the  company. 

The  story  of  his  subsequent  career  will  fall  later  into  its 
allotted  place  in  this  book.  Meanwhile  it  is  interesting  to 
note  that,  but  for  the  Paris  siege,  Nicolini  would  never  have 
returned  to  this  country — in  which  case  his  romantic  union 
with  Adelina  Patti  would  assuredly  never  have  become  a  fait 
accompli. 

During  her  visit  to  Paris  in  the  autumn  of  1866  Mile. 
Patti  stayed,  with  her  father  and  Maurice  Strakosch,  at 
Maria's  fiat  in  a  house  near  the  Champs-Elysees.  The  Mar- 
chese  di  Candia  (as  he  was  in  private  life)  was  away  at  the 
time;  indeed,  he  rarely  if  ever  sang  in  Paris.  But  the  fact 
of  Patti 's  presence  is  worth  recording,  if  only  for  an  incident 
which  illustrates  the  kind  of  mad  worship  that  was  clan- 
destinely paid  her  at  this  period  by  her  demented  (and  dis- 
appointed) French  adorers.  One  morning  Karolyn  Baum- 
eister  opened  the  door  of  the  Mario  apartment,  and,  to  her 
astonishment,  found  a  man  outside — a  gentleman  apparently — 
on  his  knees,  kissing  the  mat.  She  asked  him  why  on  earth  he 
was  conducting  himself  so  strangely.  He  got  up  and  asked  in 
his  turn,  "Does  not  she  tread  on  that  mat  every  time  she  goes 
in  and  out?"  Then,  without  another  word,  he  put  on  his 
hat  and  walked  downstairs. 

Before  coming  to  matrimonial  events,  however,  let  us  deal 
briefly  with  Mile.  Patti 's  share  in  the  Covent  Garden  seasons 
that  immediately  preceded  the  Franco-Prussian  War  of 
1870-71.     During  this  period  there  was  much  in  the  way  of 

i  "Mapleson  Memoirs,"  Vol.  I,  p.  152, 


168  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

repetition ;  also  much  that,  it  will  be  more  convenient  to  refer 
to  as  opportunity  arises.  In  1866  Mr.  Gye's  broken  promises 
were  not  limited  to  "Le  Xozze  di  Figaro."  He  had  reengaged 
Carlotta  Patti  and  told  his  subscribers  that  she  would  appear 
in  opera  as  the  Queen  in  "Les  Huguenots"  and  Isabel  in 
''Roberto  il  Diavolo."  She  did  neither.  Of  Carlotta  as  a 
stage  singer  the  first  and  last  was  seen  in  America.1 
But  the  activities  of  Adelina  more  than  atoned  for  the  absence 
of  her  sister.  It  was  in  this  year  that  habitues  made  acquain- 
tance! with  her  delicious  Caterina  in  "L'Etoile  du  Nord" — 
an  impersonation  that  they  were  to  enjoy  for  the  best  part  of 
twenty  years,  and  nearly  always  supported  by  the  same  su- 
perb trio  of  men — Faure  as  Peter  the  Great,  Naudin  as 
Danilowitz,  and  Ciampi  as  Gritzenko.  The  Prascovia  in  the 
first  instance  was  that  excellent  English  soprano,  Mme. 
Lemmens-Sherrington.  Another  addition  to  the  list  of  Patti 's 
new  characters  was  Annetta  in  the  Riccis'  pretty  opera, 
"Crispino  e  la  Comare, "  with  the  great  Roneoni  as  Crispino. 

The  clou  of  1867  was  described  as  "Romeo  and  Juliet,"  "an 
entirely  new  opera,  composed  by  M.  Gounod,  and  founded  on 
Shakespeare's  play."  So  introduced  in  the  bill,  and  not  un- 
der the  Italian  title  that  was  used  afterwards,  this  melodious 
work  obtained,  musically  speaking,  no  more  than  a  succes 
d'estime.  Indeed,  the  critics  were  wont  to  declare  that  it 
owed  its  passing  favor  not  so  much  to  the  music  as  to  the 
glamour  of  the  tragedy  and  the  genius  of  Mario  and  Patti  in 
the  immortal  name-parts.  On  the  subject  of  Gounod's  opera, 
and  how  it  ultimately  won  its  way  to  a  popularity  little  if  at 
all  inferior  to  that  of  "Faust,"  there  will  be  more  to  say  in 
the  next  chapter. 

During  the  first  decade  of  her  career  at  Covent  Garden 

1  She  appeared  once  in  Philadelphia  (in  May.  1870)  as  the  Queen  of 
"Night  in  "The  Magic  Flute,"  but  the  notices  were  again  too  discourag- 
ing. 


MARIO   AS   FAUST 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  169 

Adelina  Patti  appeared  iu  nineteen  roles  altogether,  and  in 
the  following  order:  1861 — Amino,,  Lucia,  Violetta,  Zerlina, 
Martha,  Rosina;  1862 — X,orina,  Dinorah;  1863 — Leonora, 
Ninetta,  Adina,  Maria;  1864 — Marguerite ;  1865 — Linda;  1866 
—Caterina,  Annetta;  1868— Juliet;  1869— Oilda;  1810— El- 
vira ("Puritani").  At  the  close  of  the  season  of  1868  a 
writer  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette  took  occasion  to  pass  in  review 
her  work  down  to  that  time,  and  summed  up  in  these  glowing 
terms : 

Her  career  has  been  as  honourably  industrious  as  it  has  been  uni- 
formly successful.  Richly  endowed,  she  has  not  the  less  persever- 
ingly  studied  to  attain  the  perfection  of  detail  indispensable  to  true 
art,  and  the  defects  observable  when  she  first  appeared  among  us 
have,  with  laborious  and  resolute  striving,  been  conquered  one  by 
one.  Her  voice  has  grown  richer  and  more  flexible  through  con- 
stant use — a  proof  that  its  use  has  been  legitimate;  her  vocalisation 
is  as  fluent  and  correct  as  it  is  brilliant  and  expressive.  As  an 
actress,  both  in  the  comic  and  serious  range  of  characters,  she  has 
reached  that  acme  of  perfection  which  makes  acting  seem  no  acting 
at  all,  but  rather  truth  idealised.  Nothing  can  be  more  natural, 
graceful,  and  spontaneous  than  her  comedy,  nothing  more  deeply 
felt  and  touching  than  her  tragedy.  In  short,  she  now  presents  to 
us  the  very  beau  ideal  of  a  lyric  artist. 

Other  eminent  critics  wrote  to  the  same  effect.  Thus,  in 
a  number  of  the  Saturday  Review,  in  June,  1868,  we  read: 

That  Adelina  Patti  should  be  a  universal  favourite  is  not  extraor- 
dinary; for  it  is  no  more  than  truth  to  say  that  she  is  the  most 
versatile  and  accomplished  of  existing  lyric  comedians.  In  comic 
opera,  in  melodramatic  opera,  in  serious  opera,  she  is  equally  at 
home;  and  her  repertory  probably  surpasses  in  variety  and  extent 
that  of  any  singer  we  could  name.  The  Rosina,  Lady  Enriclietta, 
Lucia,  Amina,  Norina,  and  Zerlina  of  Mile.  Patti  are  now  the  very 
best  of  the  best.     We  could  not  say  more  if  we  were  to  write  an 


170  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

essay;  and  if  we  said  less  we  should  be  unjust  to  Mile.  Patti,  whose 
progress  during  the  brief  period  of  seven  years — since,  a  girl  phe- 
nomenon from  the  United  States,  she  first  appeared  before  an  Eng- 
lish audience  in  the  character  of  Amino — is  almost,  if  not  quite,  un- 
exampled. To  have  matured  herself  from  the  imperfect  though 
richly  promising  artist  she  wras  then  into  the  perfect  artist  she  is 
now,  must  have  cost  no  end  of  thought  and  persevering  study.  But 
these  have  brought  their  fruits;  and  Mile.  Patti  enjoys  her  reward 
in  the  unanimous  opinion  that  now  places  her  in  the  position  she 
holds  both  as  singer  and  as  actress.  Really  great  artists  are  nowa- 
days uncommon;  and  Mile.  Patti  is  one  of  the  very  few  that  re- 
main. 

Meanwhile  the  home  life  at  Clapham  had  continued  its 
smooth  and  pleasant  course  without  break — other  than  the 
intervals  for  foreign  tours — down  to  the  beginning  of  1868. 
Then  came  the  important  event  that  was  to  surprise  the  world 
by  adding  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  a  titled  married 
lady  to  those  already  borne  by  a  busy  prima  donna.  In  a 
word,  to  convert  the  admired  diva  into  the  charming  wife  of 
a  French  marquis. 

The  secret  was  well  kept.  For  a  long  while  the  fascinating 
Adelina  had  been  receiving  what  most  girls  would  have  con- 
sidered tempting  offers  of  marriage.  She  treated  most  of 
them  with  disdain  and  all  alike  with  indifference,  declaring 
that  she  would  never  marry  except  for  love.  But  souvent 
femme  varie;  and  it  is  to  be  suspected  that  she  was  still 
heart-whole  when  one  day  there  "came  along"  a  certain 
French  nobleman,  no  longer  in  his  first  youth,  yet  elegant  in 
bearing  and  refined  in  manner,  whose  attentions  appear  to 
have  awakened  in  her  sensations  almost  as  pleasing  as  those 
peculiar  to  Cupid's  own  victims.  Anyhow,  she  listened  to 
him. 

This  distinguished  gentleman  was  the  Marquis  de  Caux, 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  171 

head  of  a  noble  but  by  no  means  wealthy  family,  then  holding 
the  position  of  Equerry  to  Napoleon  III  at  the  Court  of  the 
Tuileries. 

Now,  the  Emperor  and  the  Empress  Eugenie  were  both  sin- 
cerely attached  to  Mile.  Patti.  During  her  visits  to  Paris  she 
was  frequently  invited  to  Court  and  sometimes  received  quite 
en  famille.  Their  Majesties  rarely  missed  one  of  her  perform- 
ances at  the  Theatre-Italien ;  they  led  the  applause,  threw 
bouquets  to  her,  and  made  her  handsome  presents.  On  these 
occasions  they  were  always  accompanied  by  the  Marquis  de 
Caux,  who  with  equal  regularity  went  to  the  back  of  the  stage 
to  convey  the  imperial  congratulations.  With  him  were  gen- 
erally two  other  scions  of  the  French  aristocracy,  namely, 
the  Vicomte  d'Arry  and  the  Baron  de  Saint- Amand;  and  all 
three  gentlemen  were  madly  in  love  with  the  bewitching 
artist.  But  the  one  with  the  most  glib  and  fluent  tongue, 
who  could  turn  the  neatest  compliments  without  a  suspicion 
of  flattery,  was  the  Marquis.  In  course  of  time  he  made  an 
impression.  Seeing  which  he  went  to  the  Empress,  and  with- 
out much  trouble  persuaded  her  to  back  him  in  a  serious 
demand  for  the  young  lady's  hand. 

It  took  a  little  longer  to  gain  the  support  of  the  Emperor; 
but,  once  it  was  promised,  the  Marquis  de  Caux  stood  in  a 
very  strong  position.  Few  objections  could  be  urged  against 
the  match.  Mile.  Patti  liked  him  well  enough:  thought  her- 
self more  eprise,  perhaps,  than  she  really  was.  Maurice  Stra- 
kosch  was  (to  all  appearance)  in  favor  of  it;  and  the  demoi- 
selle de  compagnie,  Fraulein  Lauw,  left  no  stone  unturned 
to  bring  matters  to  a  satisfactory  conclusion.  The  only  per- 
son who  did  not  favor  the  Marquis's  suit  was  dear  old  Salva- 
tore  Patti,  Adelina's  father.  He  did  not  like  him,  and  openly 
said  as  much.  Yet  even  he  gave  way  at  last,  and  in  the  spring 
of  1868,  all  obstacles  being  removed,  the  pair  were  duly  be- 


172  THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI 

trothed.     But  nothing  was  to  be  said  about  it  publicly  until 
the  end  of  the  opera  season.1 

■ 

The  wedding  took  place  at  the  Roman  Catholic  church  on 
Clapham  Common  on  July  29,  1868,  immediately  after  the 
termination  of  a  Covent  Garden  season  notable  for  several 
brilliant  appearances  with  Mario.  Patti  and  Mario  sang 
together  that  year  in  "Romeo  e  Giulietta,"  "Faust,"  "Don 
Giovanni,"  and  "II  Barbiere."  They  had  appeared  at  her 
benefit  on  July  23,  when  the  bill  included  acts  from  "Romeo," 
"Faust,"  and  "La  Figlia  del  Reggimento. " 2  The  great 
tenor  was,  of  course,  among  the  guests  invited  to  the  wed- 
ding. His  daughter  Rita  was  one  of  the  bridesmaids;  an- 
other being  Miss  Harris,  elder  sister  of  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir) 
Augustus  Harris,  whose  father  was  then  the  stage-manager 
at  Covent  Garden. 

The  church  was  crowded,  the  ceremony  taking  place  at 
the    early    hour    of    eleven    o'clock    in    the    morning.     The 

1  A  writer  who  was,  both  then  and  later,  on  intimate  terms  with 
Mme.  Patti,  has  thus  related  the  circumstances:  "At  the  time  she 
spoke  to  me  very  frankly  respecting  her  plans,  and  told  me  how  the 
P^mpress  had  encouraged  her  to  go  on  working  for  five  more  years,  until 
she  had  made  an  independent  fortune,  since  the  Marquis  had  only  10,000 
francs  (£400)  a  year;  and  that  when  the  income  derived  from  her  new 
fortune  secured  her  an  independence,  the  Empress  would  receive  her  at 
court  as  a  dame  d'honneur  with  some  palace  honorarium,  a  position 
which,  so  long  as  she  sang  for  money,  she  could  not  hold  without 
wounding  a  number  of  vanities  and  prejudices."  ("From  Mozart  to 
Mario,"  by  Louis  Engel.) 

2  Grove's  Dictionary,  by  the  way,  in  the  revised  edition,  gives  1867 
as  the  year  of  Mario's  retirement,  but  that  is  incorrect.  lie  sang  in 
London  again  in  1870  and  1871.  In  his  prospectus  for  1868  Mr.  Gye 
announced  that  Mario  and  Patti  would  both  take  part  in  an  elaborate 
production  of  Rossini's  early  opera  "L'Assedio  di  Corinth"  ("The  Siege 
of  Corinth"),  but  the  event  never  came  off.  A  promise  made  in  the 
same  document  to  mount  for  Mme.  Patti  Verdi's  forgotten  Milanese 
failure,  "Giovanna  d'Arco,"  was  also  unredeemed,  and  her  admirers 
were  said  to  be  much  disappointed  at  missing  the  opportunity  of  seeing 
the  diva  in  a  suit  of  stage  armor. 


00 
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O 

— * 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  173 

bride  is  said  to  have  looked  "beautiful  exceedingly"  in  a 
wedding  gown  of  white  satin  trimmed  with  lace,  the  latest 
achievement  of  the  famous  Worth,  of  Paris.  The  witnesses 
who  signed  the  marriage  contract  on  her  behalf  were  the 
Duke  of  Manchester  and  her  old  friend,  "the  celebrated 
conductor,  Mr.  Michael  Costa."  For  the  Marquis  de  Caux 
the  signatories  were  his  friends  the  Vicomte  and  the  Baron. 
Among  the  bridal  gifts  was  a  costly  one  from  the  Emperor 
Napoleon  and  the  Empress  Eugenie,  despatched  by  special 
courier  from  the  Tuileries. 

Only  a  few  friends  were  invited  to  the  wedding  break- 
fast. Among  them  were  two  or  three  of  the  leading  musical 
critics — one  of  these  Mr.  Sutherland  Edwards,  who  tells  us 
in  his  history  of  "The  Prima  Donna"  that  in  course  of  the 
feast  Mario  whispered  to  him  that  "the  Marquis,  much  as 
he  might  be  attached  to  his  fascinating  bride,  had  never 
made  love  to  her  so  much  as  he,  her  constant  lover,  had  done." 

The  honejTnoon  was  spent  on  the  Continent.  But  before 
the  end  of  August  the  Marquise  de  Caux — now  known  to  the 
public  as  Mme.  Adelina  Patti — was  at  work  upon  the  stage 
once  more,  fulfilling  an  annual  summer  engagement  at  Hom- 
burg.  It  is  worthy  of  mention,  if  only  for  the  fact  that 
during  this  Homburg  visit  she  made  her  first  essay  in  the 
part  of  Semiramide.  It  was  more  or  less  of  an  experiment, 
but  Rossini  wished  her  to  try  it,  and  provided  her  with 
three  entirely  new  cadenzas  written  expressly  for  the  oc- 
casion. 

Despite  her  success  in  this  role,  she  did  not  sing  it  in 
London  until  ten  years  later.1  It  had  long  been  associated 
there  with  the  names  of  two  glorious  tragic  artists,  Grisi 
and  Tietjens  (the  latter  now  at  her  best),  and  the  public 
naturally  regarded  it  as  belonging  exclusively  to  the  rep- 
ertory of  a  dramatic  soprano.     Rossini  thought  otherwise. 

i  See  p.  194. 


174  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

In  Paris  he  always  spoke  of  the  gifted  Henrietta  Sontag  as 
his  ideal  Semiramide.  But  he  frankly  declared  that  he  saw 
Adelina  Patti  in  the  role,  and  she  abundantly  vindicated  his 
opinion. 

In  the  following  November  (1868)  Rossini  died.  Mme. 
Patti  was  in  Paris  at  the  time,  fulfilling  a  contract  with  M. 
Bagier  for  a  series  of  eleven  appearances  at  the  Theatre- 
Italien.1  Feted  by  the  Court  and  all  its  entourage — then  in 
the  full  splendor  of  the  Second  Empire — the  Marquis  and 
Marquise  de  Caux  were  the  "lions"  of  a  round  of  brilliant 
social  engagements,  over  which  the  demise  of  the  great  com- 
poser cast  a  temporary  shadow.  It  was  arranged  that  the 
funeral  ceremony  should  be  preceded  by  a  grand  musical  serv- 
ice at  the  newly  erected  Eglise  de  la  Trinite.  Among  the  art- 
ists who  took  part  in  it  were  Patti,  Alboni,  Nilsson  and 
Faure. 

The  funeral  requiem  was  made  up  entirely  of  pieces 
adapted  from  the  serious  works  of  Rossini.  Thus,  the 
"Liber  scriptus"  was  sung  to  the  music  of  the  "Quis  est 
homo"  from  the  "Stabat  Mater,"  and  in  this  beautiful  duet 
the  voices  of  Adelina  Patti  and  Marietta  Alboni  blended 
with  an  effect  of  beauty  and  pathos  that  Gounod  described 
as  "the  most  heavenly  and  touching  musical  moment  of  his 
whole  existence."  Many  of  the  congregation  were  moved  to 
tears.  Hardly  less  sublime  was  the  impression  created  by 
the  same  illustrious  artists  in  an  "Agnus  Dei"  for  soloists 
and  chorus,  sung  to  the  music  of  the  well-known  Prayer 
from  "Mose  in  Egitto."  The  entire  function  formed  a 
worthy  tribute  to  the  memory  of  a  great  and  honored  master. 

It  may  here  be  said  that  the  relations  between  Rossini 
and  his  "carissima  Adelina,"  during  the  five  brief  years 
that  they  knew  each  other,  had  been  of  the  most  cordial 

1  The  total  receipts  for  these  performances  amounted  to  148,000  francs 
(nearly  £6,000). 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  175 

and  affectionate  kind.  The  scandal-mongers  and  mischief- 
makers  of  the  time  were  wont,  for  reasons  of  their  own,  to 
amuse  themselves  by  inventing  anecdotes  flavored  with  spu- 
rious Rossinian  wit  and  uttered  at  the  singer's  expense. 
These  mostly  passed  for  genuine,  especially  that  vii'ainous 
pun  which  described  the  vocal  ornaments  written  for  her  by 
her  brother-in-law  as  " strakoschonneries."  x  But  when  some 
of  them  were  still  quoted  in  memoirs  on  Rossini,  long  after 
his  death,  the  following  authoritative  statement  was  inserted 
by  James  Davison  in  the  Musical  World  (April,  1869)  : 

We  are  tired  of  insisting  that  ninety-nine  out  of  a  hundred  of  the 
so-called  bon  mots  attributed  to  Rossini  are  the  pure  fabrication  of 
the  Parisian  petite  presse  and  small  wits  of  the  Boulevards.  That 
he  never  addressed  an  ungallant  speech  to  Mme.  Patti  or  invented 
the  silly  play  upon  the  name  of  M.  Strakosch,  here  for  the  fiftieth 
time  attributed  to  him,  we  have  had  his  own  positive  assurance.  It 
is  very  unlikely  indeed  that  Rossini  would  imply  in  one  sentence 
that  Mme.  Patti  had  learnt  nothing,  and  in  the  next  that  she  sang 
his  music  divinely.     He  was  not  quite  so  modest  as  all  that. 

The   fact   remains,   nevertheless,   that   when   Rossini   first 

iAs  to  this  accusation,  the  brother-in-law  speaks  for  himself  ("Sou- 
venirs d'un  Impresario,"  p.  69)  :  "According  to  Rossini,  the  airs  in 
his  operas  were  not  always  to  be  sung  as  they  were  written;  the 
artists  might  allow  themselves  changes  (variantes) .  It  is  worth  while 
to  observe  that  Rossini  alluded  to  the  artists  of  his  time,  who  did  not 
go  upon  the  stage  until  after  long  study  and  who  were  themselves 
skilful  musicians.  Perhaps  to-day  [1887],  when  tenors  and  prime  donne 
are  manufactured  in  a  few  months,  Rossini  would  modify  his  opinion. 

"Thus,  in  the  'Barber  of  Seville,'  the  role  of  Rosina  had  been  written 
for  a  contralto,  and  is  very  often  sung  by  sopranos.  It  would  be  im- 
possible for  a  soprano  to  sing  it  as  Rossini  wrote  it.  This  remark  was 
made  by  the  master  apropos  of  a  newspaper  article  in  which  the  critic 
declared  that  in  this  same  opera  Rossini's  music  had  been  strakoschon- 
nee.  The  truth  is  that  Maurice  Strakosch  had  introduced  for  Mile. 
Adelina  Patti  changes  which  she  always  used  [until  Bevignani,  as  we 
shall  see,  wrote  new  ones  for  her],  and  which  were  approved  by  Rossini 
himself." 


L76  THE   REIGN  OF  PATTI 

heard  Adelina  Patti  sing  "Una  voce"  he  declared  in  his 
usual  jocular  manner  that  he  was  unable  to  recognize  it  as 
his  own  music. 

The  winter  of  1868-69  was  spent  by  Mme.  Patti  in  Russia, 
where  her  triumphs,  like  her  artistic  growth,  continued  on 
the  upward  scale.  For  several  years  in  succession  she  regu- 
larly visited  St.  Petersburg  and  Moscow,  and  never  failed 
(as  Mr.  Gye  put  it  in  his  prospectus  for  1874)  to  "bear 
away  from  both  cities  substantial  and  magnificent  marks  of 
imperial  and  public  admiration."  This  was  literally  true. 
The  Czar  Alexander,  after  conferring  upon  her  the  Order  of 
Merit,  appointed  her  a  Court  singer,  and  later  presented  her 
with  an  order  set  in  brilliants,  besides  other  handsome  sou- 
venirs. The  nobility  showered  costly  gifts  upon  her  at  each 
performance.  No  wonder,  then,  that  a  writer  who  knew 
her  well  once  said:  "The  diamonds  she  carried  away  from 
Russia  constituted  in  themselves  a  small  fortune."1 

This  was  long  prior  to  the  days  of  the  Russian  opera  and 
the  Russian  ballet  that  London  afterwards  knew.  But  the 
Russians  were  always  devoted  lovers  of  good  music,  and 
their  fondness  for  Italian  opera  dated  from  before  the  era 
when  Glinka  founded  their  national  school.  The  fact  that 
they  were  keen,  sincere  critics  lends  the  greater  value, 
therefore,  to  such  appreciations  as  the  following,  which  ap- 
peared in  the  Journal  do  St.  Petersburg  early  in  1869: 

In  Adelina  Patti  we  find  virtuosity  par  excellence.  We  have  here, 
in  the  first  place,  an  exceptional  and  unrivalled  voice,  intonation 
juste  a  toute  epreuve,  an  admirable  method,  and  miracles  without 
number  of  agility  and  wonderful  feats  of  mechanical  skill.  This  is 
not  perhaps  the  result  of  any  great  application  on  her  part;  it  is 
the  result  of  a  most   happy  and  peculiar  organisation — it  is  the 

i  "Fro*  Mozart  to  Mario,"  by  Louis  Engel. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  177 

natural  singing  of  a  bird  created  to  sing.  .  .  .  The  first  time  you 
hear  her  you  are  astonished;  you  are  dazzled  by  the  vocal  pyro- 
technic display,  the  llute-like  arabesques  in  the  highest  register  pos- 
sible to  the  human  voice  (going  up  to  the  high  F)  are  something  so 
striking,  and  then,  suddenly  forming  such  a  contrast  to  them,  the 
full,  sonorous  phrases  of  a  mellow  voice  in  the  lowest  notes  of  a 
genuine  soprano.  A  moment  afterwards  you  find  yourself  under  the 
spell  of  a  beautiful,  perfect  style  of  execution.  The  maestria  of 
"simple"  singing  cannot  go  farther  than  in  the  airs  of  Zerlina  as 
sung  by  Mme.  Patti. 

The  year  1869  was  that  of  the  extraordinary  "coalition" 
season  at  Covent  Garden,  when,  Her  Majesty's  Theatre  not 
being  yet  rebuilt  after  the  fire  of  the  previous  summer, 
Messrs.  Gye  and  Mapleson  joined  their  powerful  forces, 
alike  with  advantage  to  the  public  and  profit — unprece- 
dented profit — to  themselves.  During  that  season  Mme. 
Patti  appeared  in  a  round  of  familiar  characters.  The  chief 
hit  was  once  more  "Don  Giovanni."  It  was  given  several 
times,  with  a  cast  that  included  Patti  as  Zerlina,  Tietjens 
as  Donna  Anna,  Christine  Nilsson  as  Donna  Elvira,  Mario 
as  Don  Ottavio,  and  Faure  as  the  Don — perhaps  the  most 
remarkable  operatic  combination  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

To  complete  the  record  of  these  wonderful  "sixties"  we 
must  briefly  revert  to  the  March  of  1868,  when  Verdi's  for- 
gotten opera  "Giovanna  d'Arco,"  came  to  its  first  Parisian 
hearing  at  the  Theatre  des  Italiens.  Despite  the  radiant 
beauty  and  indubitable  genius  of  the  Italian  soprano,  Ermi- 
nia  Frezzolini,  the  opera  (it  was  written  just  after 
"Ernani")  had  been  an  absolute  failure  at  the  Scala  in 
1815.  Yet  now,  twenty-three  years  later,  it  was  revived  in 
the  hope  that  Adelina  Patti  would  succeed  in  accomplishing 
what  her  gifted  predecessor  had  been  unable  to  do.  But  the 
task  lay  beyond  her  powers,  exactly  as  Verdi  had   feared 


178  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

when  he  reluctantly  gave  his  consent  for  the  opera  to  be 
produced  in  Paris.  The  experience  of  Frezzolini  had 
shown  him  that  whatever  success  it  might  temporarily  enjoy 
would  be  entirely  due  to  the  protagonist  of  the  title-role: 

Patti  as  Joan  of  Arc  made  a  captivating  picture  in  helmet 
and  armor.  She  sang  superbly,  and  "lent  her  admirable 
talent  to  the  most  ungrateful  part  of  her  repertoire."  She 
galvanized  the  finer  musical  passages  with  something  of  her 
own  exquisite  charm ;  but  she  could  not  imbue  with  con- 
sistency or  lasting  interest  a  creation  that  represents  the 
Maid  of  Orleans  in  an  absurd  if  not  an  objectionable  light. 
M.  Arthur  Pougin  tells  us,  "After  a  few  performances  the 
work  was  completely  abandoned."1 

i  "The  Life  and  Works  of  Verdi/'  London,  1887. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Married  Life  (1869) — Maurice  and  the  Marquis — Entertainments  in 
Paris — Patti  at  Covent  Garden  in  the  Seventies — First  Impressions 
of  Her  as  Zerlina  and  Giulieita — Gounod's  "Romeo"  in  Italian  with 
Patti  and  Mario — She  Creates  A'ida  at  Covent  Garden — A  Fresh 
Revelation  of  Genius  in  Composer  and  Singer — New  Characters  and 
Old — Operas  Written  for  Patti — Her  Valentino,  at  This  Period — End 
of  the  Gye  Regime — With  Scalchi  in  "Semiramide" — Divorced  from 
the  Marquis  de  Caux   ( 1885)— Marriage  with  Nicolini   (1886) 

AFTER  her  marriage  with  the  Marquis  de  Caux  most 
of  the  singer's  spare  time,  naturally,  was  spent  in 
Paris.  The  house  in  Clapham  had  been  given  up.  Salva- 
tore  Patti  was  growing  old  and  being  no  longer  required  to 
accompany  his  daughter  on  her  travels,  he  went  to  live  in 
Paris  with  M.  and  Mine.  Maurice  Strakosch  in  order  to  be 
near  her  as  much  as  possible.  He  was  not,  however,  to  enjoy 
that  pleasure  long,  for  he  died  there  on  August  20,  1869, 
just  fifteen  months  after  the  union  to  which,  according  to 
Maurice  Strakosch,  he  had  from  the  first  been  sternly  op- 
posed. 

The  worthy  Maurice  himself  held  the  fixed  opinion  that 
prima  donnas,  actresses,  and  dancers  should  never  marry 
under  any  circumstances.  "The  joys  of  the  domestic 
hearth,"  he  said,  "are  not  always  for  artists;  family  life  is 
rarely  suited  to  those  idols  of  the  public  whose  existence  is 
passed  in  an  imaginary  world,  and  who  sometimes  have 
neither  the  time  nor  the  wish  to  appreciate  the  happiness  to 
be  derived  from  the  peace  and  calm  of  a  simple  life."  * 

1  "Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  p.  55.  M.  Strakosch  goes  on  to 
enumerate,  in  confirmation  of  his  opinion,  the  examples  of  Marie  Tag- 
lioni,  Malibran,  Bosio,  Frezzolini,  Grisi,  Lucca,  Trebelli,  Marie  Sasse, 
and  Marie  Heilbron,  all  of  whom  separated  from  their  husbands. 

179 


lso  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Evidently  in  his  heart  of  hearts  he  did  not  like  the  Mar- 
quis. They  were  nol  on  bad  terms;  indeed,  as  we  have  seen, 
both  he  and  the  father  were  present  at  the  wedding.  Nev- 
ertheless, according  to  his  own  account,  that  event  marked 
the  rupture  of  relations  between  Maurice  and  his  sister-in- 
law,  or  rather,  as  he  puts  it,  "between  the  impresario  and 
his  pupil."  He  hastens  to  state  that  the  separation  was 
purely  voluntary  on  his  part ;  for,  several  times,  he  says,  the 
Marquis  de  Caux  asked  him  to  continue  in  the  position  he 
had  previously  held  "aupres  de  Mme.  Patti."  "These  offers, 
however  advantageous  and  honorable  for  him  to  whom  they 
were  made,  were  refused.  Having  always  been  against  the 
marriage,  the  brother-in-law  of  Adelina  Patti  would  often 
have  been  in  a  rather  false  position  vis-a-vis  of  the  Marquis 
de  Caux." 

Whether  the  latter  was  quite  so  anxious  to  retain  his  ser- 
vices as  he  tries  to  make  out,  we  have  reason  to  doubt.  It 
is  also  open  to  question  how  far  the  new  Marquise  herself 
was  responsible  for  the  "rupture,"  seeing  that  she  had  been 
a  good  many  years  under  Maurice's  tutelage  and  control, 
and  must  have  been  rather  pleased  than  otherwise  at  the 
prospect  of  a  greater  measure  of  freedom.  Still,  there  was 
no  quarrel.  Strakosch  insists  that  their  excellent  relations 
did  not  cease  after  the  marriage,  when,  "in  relinquishing 
his  duties  as  impresario,  he  placed  in  her  hands  contracts 
signed  by  the  directors  of  the  chief  European  opera  houses, 
and  the  total  of  those  contracts  amount  to  the  sum  of 
1,600,000  francs  [about  £64,000],  extending  over  a  period  of 
three  years. ' ' 1 

Maurice  Strakosch  foresaw  trouble,  and  the  event  proved 
him  to  have  been  right.  We  shall  come  to  that  soon  enough. 
.Meanwhile  1  he  lune  de  miel  was  shining  brightly,  and  the 
seasons  in  Homburg,  Paris,  and  Russia  succeeded  each  other 

1  'Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario,"  p.  60. 


IN   PARIS     1860 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  181 

amid  a  steady  crescendo  of  artistic  and  social  triumphs. 
During  their  stay  in  the  French  capital  in  the  autumn  of 
1869  they  were  frequently  guests  of  the  Emperor  and  Em- 
press at  the  Tuileries.  They  also  entertained  a  good  deal 
at  their  own  residence,  and  their  receptions  were  attended 
by  the  leading  notabilities  in  the  worlds  of  music,  drama, 
art  and  literature. 

At  one  of  these  intime  affairs  the  famous  Alboni  ap- 
plauded the  singing  of  her  hostess;  and  Auber.  being  asked 
what  he  thought  of  her,  replied:  "I  have  seen  and  heard 
many  singers.  I  remember  Catalani,  Pasta,  Malibran, 
Grisi,  and  Sontag.  But  I  never  heard  so  perfect  an  artist 
as  Patti.  As  for  her  voice,  it  is  without  a  flaw."  This  was 
a  tremendous  comparison  to  make;  but  the  old  French  mas- 
ter was  no  flatterer :  he  meant  what  he  said. 

They  were  staying  that  season  at  the  Hotel  du  Rhin,  in 
the  Place  Vendome,  and  when  the  Prince  of  Orange  (Crown 
Prince  of  the  Netherlands)  came  to  Paris  the  Marquis  and 
Marquise  de  Caux  gave  a  reception  and  entertainment  in 
his  honor,  which  was  attended  by  the  flower  of  the  French 
nobility,  then  living  their  last  few  months  of  splendor  ere 
the  sun  set  upon  the  glories  of  the  Second  Empire.  It  was 
a  memorable  night ;  the  crowd  was  exceedingly  brilliant, 
and  the  Prince  is  said  to  have  enjoyed  the  concert  amaz- 
ingly. No  wonder.  Not  only  did  Patti  herself  sing,  but 
she  provided  a  morceau  d' ensemble  of  a  wholly  unique 
description,  in  the  shape  of  the  trio  from  Cimarosa's  opera 
"II  Matrimonio  Segreto,"  the  artists  being  the  three  sisters, 
Amalia,  Carlotta,  and  Adelina.  They  had  never  sung  to- 
gether before,  and  they  were  never  to  sing  together  again. 

It  is  generally  acknowledged  that  the  period  during  which 
Adelina  Patti  was  the  Marquise  de  Caux — in  fact,  the  dec- 
ade covering  the  whole  of  the  seventies — marked  the  zenith 


182  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

of  her  career.  As  good  fortune  would  have  it,  it  was  during 
he  early  part  of  that  period,  in  1872,  that  the  writer  of 
his  chronicle  first  heard  her  at  Covent  Garden  It  was 
her  twelfth  season  in  Great  Britain,  and  she  had  not  yet 
attained  her  thirtieth  birthday.  She  was,  in  short,  at  the 
very  height  of  her  powers. 

This  most  memorable  of  all  my  operatic  experiences  hap- 
pened  on   a   Whit-Monday.^     The  stalls   and   boxes   were   a 
tofle  less  crowded  than  usual,  on  account  of  the  holiday 
Nevertheless,    it    presented    a   sufficiently    brilliant    and-to 
my    unaccustomed    eyes-dazzling    spectacle.     Mr     Gve     in 
his  corner  stage-box  on  the  pit  tier,  was  duly  pointed' out 
to  me;  and  I  recall  the  entry  of  a  dapper  little  gentleman, 
wearing   a   broad   shirtfront    and    spotless    white    waistcoat 
who  took  his  place  in  the  stalls  near  the  orchestra  during 
the  second  scene  of  -Don  Giovanni."     I  was  informed  thai 
he    was    the    Marquis    de    Caux.     Be    was    just  in    time    to 
witness  the  entry  of  Zerlina  when  she  danced  on  with  Mas- 
etto.     And   a  lovelier  picture  than  the  dainty  diva  in   her 
piquant  Spanish  costume  it  would  indeed  have  been  hard 
to  conjure  up. 

m  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  say  that  every  incident  of  that 
night  became  ineffaceably  imprinted  upon  mv  memorv      Mv 
impressions  of  the  scene,  the  music,  the  singing,  the  whole 
performance,    in    fact,    still    remain    extraordinarily    vivid 
From  boyhood  upward   (in  my  native  city  of  Norwich  and 
later  in  London)  I  had  listened  to  a  good  deal  of  opera      I 
had  heard  the  best  of  Mr.  Mapleson's  vocal  stars-Tietjens 
Nilsson     lima    di    Murska,    Marimon,    Trebelli.     Although 
only  a  lad  of  sixteen,   my   ear  was  sufficiently  educated  to 

i  I  remember  the  day  because  I  had  been  to  Sheerness  to  see  RrnnPl'« 

fougned ztlme  7mde/\ihe  areat  Ea8te™>  -d «  zt:1; 

•Z-ar    n  'T',        ?d'  Mr"  Jo1'"   Mitchell>  the  ^11-known  Bond  Street 

Th    rrs'  iult  time  toS  T*  *"  T^T  ^^  *""  P*tti  "  Z°^ 
mera  was  just  time  to  change  and  hurry  off  to  the  Opera. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  183 

appreciate  the  art  of  the  greatest  singer  of  the  day ;  at  the  same 
time,  I  could  fairly  estimate  the  qualities  which  made  her 
the  most  ravishing  Zerlina  that  Da  Ponte  or  Mozart  can  ever 
have  conceived. 

I  recollect  more  especially  the  strange,  dark,  penetrating 
timbre — the  voix  sombre,  as  Garcia  classified  it — of  Patti's 
voice.  How  unlike  it  sounded  to  any  other  I  had  heard — 
so  individual  in  quality,  so  perfectly  in  harmony  with  the 
personality  of  the  singer,  so  elusive  in  its  witchery,  so  sat- 
isfying and  entrancing  to  the  ear!  Incomparable,  too,  were 
her  technique  and  art.  Never  before,  of  course,  had  I  heard 
the  familiar  "Batti,  batti,"  or  "Vedrai  carino"  sung  with 
this  astounding  perfection  of  easy  grace,  of  persuasive 
charm,  of  pellucid  tone  in  uninterrupted  flow,  enhancing 
even  the  intrinsic  loveliness  of  Mozart's  immortal  melodies. 

It  was  a  joy  to  hear  her  in  the  concerted  music,  above 
all  in  "La  ci  darem,"  partnered  with  that  consummate 
artist,  Faure,  king  of  French  baritones  and  prince  of  Don 
Giovannis!  Nicolini  was  the  Don  Ottavio,  Ciampi  the  Le- 
porello,  and  a  Dresden  soprano,  Emmy  Zimmermann,  the 
Donna  Anna.  Otherwise  not  the  least  interesting  member 
of  the  cast  was  the  subsequently  famous  Viennese  singer, 
Marianne  Brandt,  who  in  this  same  season  made  her  first 
London  appearance  as  Donna  Elvira.1 

Three  years  elapsed  before  I  heard  Patti  again.  It  was  in 
May,  1875,  and  I  recollect  then  sitting  in  the  Daily  Tele- 
graph box  with  my  friend  and  harmony  teacher,  A.  H. 
Thouless,  who  introduced  me  for  the  first  time  to  Joseph 
Bennett,    the   eminent    critic,   his    future   father-in-law. 

The  opera  was  Gounod's  "Romeo  e  Giulietta" — so  en- 
titled because  sung  at  this  time  in  the  Italian  version  only. 

1  Mr.  Gye  had  engaged  her  to  create  Elsa ;  but  "Lohengrin,"  although 
it  had  been  definitely  promised  in  1872,  was  not  given  until  1875,  aix1 
then  Emma  Albani  undertook  the  role. 


184  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

It  had  not  been  heard  at  Covent  Garden  since  Mario's  re- 
tirement, seven  years  before,  when  the  rule  of  Giulietta  was 
filled  by  the  same  artist.  It  had  failed  to  please  every  one 
then.  Bennett  never  cared  for  it.  Writing  in  the  Musical 
Times  of  August,  1867,  he  said : 

In  the  balcony  scene  occurs  some  of  the  best  music  in  the  opera. 
A  cavatina  for  Borneo  would  have  produced  more  effect  had  Signor 
Mario  been  iti  better  voice;  but  lie  was  hoarse  throughout  the  eve- 
ning, and  it  was  an  evident  labour  for  him  to  sing  at  all.  The  duet 
between  the  two  lovers,  although  full  of  charming  passages,  breathes 
little  of  the  Southern  warmth  and  impetuosity  so  exquisitely  por- 
trayed by  Shakespeare;  and,  notwithstanding  that  Mile.  Patti  sang 
like  a  finished  artist  throughout  this  trying  scene,  the  music  was 
somewhat  coldly  received.  .  .  .  The  opera  was  excellently  placed 
upon  the  stage;  but,  in  spite  of  the  reputation  of  M.  Gounod,  the 
great  success  of  the  work  in  Paris,  and  the  unquestionable  merit  of 
much  of  the  music,  we  do  not  predict  for  it  a  lasting  popularity 
with  the  English  public. 

Mario  was  too  old  for  the  part  of  Romeo;  in  1867  he  was 
very  nearly  sixty.  Moreover,  his  voice  was  beginning  to 
fail,  and  the  statement  that  he  was  "hoarse1'  was  only  an- 
other way  of  hinting  at  that  regrettable  fact.  His  place  in 
the  present  revival  was  filled  by  Ernest  Nicolini,  who  had 
now  been  singing  at  Covent  Garden  since  1873  and  was  gen- 
erally regarded  as  the  best  available  tenor  for  the  Mario 
parts.  With  Patti  and  Nicolini  "Romeo  e  Giulietta"  pleased 
the  public  rather  better,  but  still  did  not  approach  within 
measurable  distance  of  the  popularity  of  "Faust,"  which, 
with  the  same  singers  and  Faure  in  the  cast,  would  attract 
overflowing  houses. 

Being  now  an  impressionable  youth  of  nineteen,  I  ought 
presumably  to  have  gone  into  raptures  over  this  perform- 
ance  of  "Romeo."  Yet  I  must  confess  that  it  left  me  cold. 
Nicolini 's   delineation    of   the    hero    was    disappointing.      It 


LA  REINE 
In  "Diamants  de  la  Couronne,"   18/0 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  185 

lacked  manly  dignity,  robust  spirit,  the  true  ring  of  tragedy. 
There  was  not  sufficient  tenderness  in  his  rendering  of  the 
music;  he  was  lovesick  enough,  but  his  acting  lacked  color, 
rariety,  depth  of  character.  Of  Patti 's  Giulietta  I  can  only 
say  that  she  sang  divinely,  more  especially  in  the  waltz  air 
aid  the  duet  of  the  balcony  scene;  but  as  a  whole  her  per- 
formance struck  me  as  too  calm,  too  restrained.  This  does 
no';  mean  that  she  did  not  satisfy  her  public.  The  Juli- 
ettzs  of  a  later  day  were  adjudged  admirable  in  the  part, 
notwithstanding  that  their  acting  exhibited  precisely  sim- 
ilar deficiencies.  But  from  Patti  it  was  only  natural  to 
expect  a  great  deal,  and  at  this  period  her  delineation  of  this 
role  was  assuredly  not  to  be  ranked  with  her  Caterina,  her 
Violetta,  her  Leonora,  or  her  Valentina. 

Thirteen  years  later  there  was  a  different  story  to  tell. 
In  November,  1888,  "Romeo  et  Juliette"  underwent  a  kind 
of  transformation  in  the  city  where  it  was  first  brought  to 
a  hearing.  Removed  by  order  of  the  State  from  the  Opera 
Comiqie  to  the  Paris  Opera,  provided  with  an  entirely  new 
mise  e%  scene  and  cast,  musically  revised  and  added  to  by 
the  still  energetic  composer,  it  acquired  a  fresh  lease  of 
life,  and  therewith  a  place  in  popular  favor  that  it  had 
never  filled  before.  On  that  memorable  occasion  Mme.  Patti 
was  again  the  Juliette,  and  like  the  opera  itself,  improved 
beyond  recognition.  But  the  incidents  of  this  fragment  of 
musical  history  shall  be  duly  related  in  their  proper  place.1 
First  let  us  deal  with  a  yet  more  notable  creation  belong- 
ing to  :his  ripe  "middle  period"  of  the  artist's  career. 

The  great  event  of  the  London  operatic  season  of  1876 
was  the  production  of  Verdi's  "A'ida,"  which  I  had  the 
good   luck  to   witness   from   the   front    row   of   the    Covent 

iSee  Chapter  XVI:  also  the  author's  "Thirty  Years  of  Musical  Life 
in  London,"  pp.  259-265. 


186  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Garden  gallery,  after  a  patient  "wait"  of  six  hours  at  the 
doors.  The  work  was  then  four  and  a  half  years  old.  Writ 
ten  at  the  request  of  the  Khedive  Ismail,  it  was  first  givei 
at  the  new  Opera  House  in  Cairo  (as  one  of  the  celebration* 
in  connection  with  the  opening  of  the  Suez  Canal)  0.1 
December  24,  1871,  and  subsequently  brought  out  at  La 
Scala,  Milan,  in  February  of  the  following  year. 

In  each  instance  it  was  acclaimed  with  enthusiasm  as  a 
work  marking  a  fresh  epoch  not  only  in  the  composer's 
career  but  in  the  history  of  Italian  opera.  The  complete 
change  of  style  from  Verdi's  "second  manner"  was  with  von- 
der  noted,  and  in  London  at  least  opera-goers  were  prepared 
to  welcome  a  new  musical  development  -.  for  in  the  previous 
summer  the}'  had  made  acquaintance  with  Wagner's  "Lohen- 
grin," and  in  this  same  season  of  1876  (six  weeks  earlier) 
had  enjoyed  their  first  hearing  of  "Tannh;iuser. " 

.Moreover,  in  the  month  of  May  Verdi  himself  had  come 
to  London  to  conduct  the  first  performance  in  England  of 
his  noble  "Requiem,"  bringing  with  him  as  soloists  three 
of  the  artists — Teresina  Stolz,  Waldmann.  and  Masini — 
who  had  taken  part  (on  April  22)  in  the  production  of 
"Aida"  at  the  Theatre-Ttalien  in  Paris.  After  affording 
us  this  wonderful  glimpse  of  the  new  Verdi,  the  master  de- 
clined an  invitation  to  remain  for  the  proniirc  of  "Aida" 
at  Covent  Garden  and  took  his  departure. 

He  had  long  been  aware,  however,  that  the  title-role  was 
to  be  created  in  London  by  Adelina  Patti.  She  had,  while 
in  Italy,  visited  him  at  his  villa  at  Brussetto  and  carefully 
gone  through  the  part  with  him.  Mr.  Gye  had  duly  an- 
nounced the  fact  in  his  prospectus,  together  with  the  proud 
statement  that  "The  exclusive  right  of  performance  of 
'Aida'  in  England  has  been  secured  by  the  director  of  the 
Royal  Italian  Opera."  All  this  was  planned  through  the 
medium  of  Verdi's  Milan  publishers,  the  house  of  Ricordi, 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  187 

of  which  the  late  courteous  and  talented  Giulio  di  Ricordi 
was  at  that  time  the  head. 

Now,  if  the  advent  of  "Aida"  furnished  a  conspicuous 
landmark  in  the  onward  progress  of  the  composer's  art,  it 
certainly  indicated  a  similar  advance  in  that  of  the  accom- 
plished prima  donna  who  interpreted  the  principal  role  in 
the  initial  London  performance. 

The  wiseacres  of  the  period  did  not  expect  to  be  satisfied. 
They  shook  their  heads  and  declared  that  they  could  not 
see  her  in  the  character.  "It  is  not,"  said  one  of  them,  "a 
Patti  part.  Imagine  the  fragile  and  gracious  Adelina  with 
her  face  and  arms  dyed  black,  or  at  least  a  rich  copper 
color — darker,  anyhow,  than  Pauline  Lucca  made  herself 
as  Selika  in  'L'Africaine' !"  Then  the  music — would  it 
suit  her  ?  Portions  of  it,  perhaps,  such  as  the  solo  air  ' '  Cieli 
azzuri"  in  the  third  act;  but  as  a  whole  was  it  not  essen- 
tially written  for  a  dramatic  soprano,  for  a  singer  with  a 
much  heavier  voice  1  As  to  whether  she  would  rise  to  the  de- 
mands of  the  part  in  a  histrionic  sense — that  being  in  her 
case  somewhat  a  question  of  mood — opinions  were  rather  more 
divided. 

However,  all  doubts  were  set  at  rest,  all  sceptical  prophe- 
cies wholly  belied,  on  June  22,  1876,  when  "Aida"  was 
performed  at  Covent  Garden  for  the  first  time,  with  Vian- 
esi  as  conductor.  That  production  provided  the  occasion 
not  only  for  an  unprecedented  tribute  to  the  genius  of 
Verdi,  but  for  an  all-round  individual  triumph  such  as 
Adelina  Patti  had  not  yet  won  during  her  entire  seventeen 
years  of  operatic  life.  It  stands  easily  first  among  the  many 
exciting  Patti  nights  that  remain  indelibly  engraved  upon 
the  memory  of  the  present  writer. 

There  was  a  remarkable  sense  of  newness  about  the  whole 
thing.  To  begin  with,  the  Egyptian  mise  en  scene — copying 
almost  exactly  the  original  Khedival  model,  with  its  temples 


188  THE  REIGN  OF  1'ATTi 

of  the  Pharaohs,  its  palaces  on  the  Nile,  and  its  wonderful 
two-storied  interior  "set'  where  the  lovers  are  interned 
alive — unfolded  a  series  of  pictures  familiar  enough  to-day, 
but  at  that  time  entirely  unknown  to  the  opera-goer.  As 
to  the  eye,  so  to  the  ear  did  "Aida"  furnish  a  complete  reve- 
lation. The  music,  with  its  original  Eastern  coloring  and 
exotic  atmosphere,  its  novel  harmonies  (so  unlike  the  earlier 
Verdi),  its  bold  effects,  such  as  the  masterly  combination 
of  themes  in  the  second  finale  (not  forgetting  the  specially  de- 
signed long  trumpets),  and  the  magnificent  orchestration 
throughout — all  this,  apart  from  the  unique  personality  of 
the  central  figure,  sufficed  to  impart  a  new  artistic  quality 
to  the  representation.  The  grim  Egyptian  tragedy,  laid 
out  by  the  Frenchman  Camille  du  Locle  and  set  forth  in 
verse  by  the  Italian  Ghislanzoni,  was  considered  equal  to 
the  best  grand  opera  libretto  that  Scribe  had  ever  written 
for  Meyerbeer;  and  that  was  saying  much. 

Yet,  amid  all  the  novel  features  of  the  production,  none 
was  more  striking  than  the  change  that  had  come  over 
the  art  of  the  great  singer  who  filled  the  title-role.  There 
was  a  new  note  of  tragic  feeling  in  the  voice;  there  were 
shades  of  poignant  expression  in  the  "Ritorna  vincitor," 
the  "Cieli  azzuri,"  and  the  three  superb  duets  in  which 
Aida  takes  part,  that  seemed  to  embrace  the  whole  gamut 
of  human  misery  and  passion.  Such  tragic  depths  Adelina 
Patti  had  never  plumbed  before.  And,  of  all  the  splendid 
A'idas  that  have  since  appeared  in  London,  not  one  has  pre- 
sented a  more  highly  colored  or  less  exaggerated  picture. 

She  had  personally  superintended  the  preparation  of  her 
costumes.  It  was  suggested  that  she  should  order  them  from 
Cairo,  or  Paris,  but  she  insisted  on  their  being  made  at 
Covent  Garden  from  fresh  designs.  "Fanciful  dresses  of 
this  sort,"  she  declared,  "are  always  best  made  for  me  in 
the  theatre."     Naturally,  very  great  trouble   was  taken  to 


IN  PARIS,    1870 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  189 

have  everything  right.  She  did  not  want  Aida  to  look  like 
another  Selika,  but  an  African  princess  of  a  different  and 
more  individual  type.  That  she  succeeded  was  the  general 
opinion.  The  light  brown  complexion  of  her  skin  seemed  just 
the  right  shade,  neither  excessively  dark  nor  the  opposite. 
Still  Aida  was  an  entirely  new  figure  in  opera,  and  on  the  first 
night  at  Covent  Garden  her  aspect  evoked  sympathy  for 
the  artist  from  no  less  august  a  critic  than  the  Princess  of 
Wales  (now  Queen  Alexandra).  Turning  to  the  equerry  be- 
side her  in  the  royal  box  (he  afterwards  told  Mme.  Patti),  her 
Royal  Highness  exclaimed:  "What  a  pity  for  the  pretty 
little  face  to  be  all  smothered  up  with  black!" 

Nicolini  was  the  Radames.  He  gave  a  far  finer  portrayal 
of  the  Egyptian  warrior  than  of  the  Teutonic  Knight  of 
the  Swan,  whom  he  had  also  presented  to  an  English  au- 
dience for  the  first  time  during  the  previous  season.  The 
best  tenor  of  his  day  in  parts  that  suited  him,  Nicolini  en- 
tirely failed  to  comprehend  either  the  poetry  or  the  music 
of  "Lohengrin";  but  he  was  a  magnificent  Radames.1 

Considering  the  unusual  length  of  her  career  in  opera, 
the  number  of  characters  actually  created  by  Mme.  Patti 
was  comparatively  insignificant.     At  Covent  Garden  she  ap- 

i  "No  one  in  London  has  ever  sung  the  tenor  part  in  'Aida'  as  it 
was  sung  for  some  years  by  Signor  Nicolini."  Thus  writes  Mr.  Suther- 
land Edwards  in  his  book,  "The  Prima  Donna."  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  this  appreciation  was  published  a  few  months  before  Jean  de 
Reszke  made  his  debut  as  Radames  at  Drury  Lane  in  1887,  and  fifteen 
years  prior  to  Caruso's  triumph  in  the  same  character  at  Covent  Gar- 
den. Mr.  Kuhe,  by  the  way,  in  his  "Recollections,"  refers  to  Nicolini'a 
remarkable  resemblance  to  Mario,  and  adds:  "He  was  very  handsome; 
his  voice  was  a  real  tenor  of  exceeding  beauty  and  most  artistically 
managed,  while  his  acting  was  both  manly  and  graceful.  Nicolini  had 
been  originally  trained  at  the  Paris  Conservatoire  as  a  pianist;  but, 
making  the  discovery  that  he  possessed  a  voice  of  fine  calibre,  he  wisely 
devoted  himself  to  its  cultivation.  He  retired  from  public  life  far  toq 
soon,  .  .  .  but  he  prefers  to  lead  the  life  of  a  country  squire," 


190  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

peared  altogether  in  eight  new  roles.  Of  these,  however, 
only  two  occurred  in  operas  not  already  heard  elsewhere: 
namely,  "Gelrnina,"  by  Princess  Poniatowski  (June  4,  1872), 
and  "Velleda,"  a  four-act  opera  by  Charles  Lenepveu,  founded 
upon  Chateaubriand's  "Les  Martyrs"  (July  4,  1882).  The 
others  were  Annetta  in  "Crispino  e  la  Comare"  (July 
14,  1866);  Juliet  in  "Romeo  e  Giulietta"  (July  11,  1867); 
Esmeralda  in  Campana's  opera  of  that  name  (June  14, 
1870)  ;  Caterina  in  Auber's  "Les  Diamants  de  la  Cour- 
onne"  (July  3,  1873);  Aida  (June  22,  1876);  and  Estella 
in  Jules  Cohen's  "Les  Bluets"  (July  3,  1880),  given  in 
Italian  under  the  title  of  "Estella." 

Of  those  not  already  mentioned,  two  characters  only  took 
a  conspicuous  place  in  the  singer's  repertory,  namely  An- 
netta and  Caterina.1  Campana's  "Esmeralda"  met  with 
some  success,  but  survived  only  for  a  season  or  two.  It  was 
originally  produced  in  London  in  1862,  then  heard  of  no 
more  until  mounted  at  St.  Petersburg  for  Mme.  Patti  in 
December,  1869.  "Gelrnina"  and  "Velleda"  were  both 
written  expressly  for  her.  One  remembers  Prince  Ponia- 
towski's  merry  ballad,  "The  Yeoman's  Wedding,"  made 
popular  by  Santley ;  but  of  his  opera  every  note  has  long 

1  Noticing  a  revival  of  "Crispino,"  the  Musical  World  observed  that 
it  was  "rendered  especially  attractive  by  the  rich  comic  humour  of 
Signor  Roneoni  as  the  cobbler,  and  the  exquisitely  refined  singing  and 
acting  of  illle.  Adelina  Patti  as  the  cobbler's  wife.  .  .  .  The  wonder  i8 
that  such  a  coarse  lout  as  the  cobbler  Crispino  should  be  possessed  of 
such  a  charming  wife  as  the  Annetta  of  Mile.  Patti.  However,  if  the 
consistency  of  dramatic  truth  is  hereby  invaded,  the  effect  of  the  opera 
and  the  delight  of  the  audience  are  immeasurably  enhanced.  Her  con- 
dolences with  her  husband  in  their  wretched  poverty,  her  effort  to  aid 
him,  her  pleadings  for  pity  at  the  hands  of  his  creditors,  her  pettish 
jealousy  at  Crisnino's  description  of  the  fairy's  gift,  her  reconciliation 
willi  him,  and  that  inimitable  dance  with  which  she  accompanies  the 
brilliant  roulades  expressive  of  her  exultation  at  their  good  fortune — 
such  a  combination  of  exuberant  animal  spirits,  refinement  of  manner, 
and  high  vocal  excellence  is  rarely  found  in  one  singer." 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  191 

been  forgotten.  The  music  of  "Velleda"  was  equally  un- 
inspired and  made  little  or  no  impression,  in  spite  of  an 
exceedingly  good  performance,  wherein  Mine.  Patti  was 
supported  by  Mme.  Valleria,  Mile.  Stahl,  Nicolini,  Cotogni, 
and  Edouard  de  Reszke.  "Les  Bluets"  was  first  brought 
out  at  the  Theatre-Lyrique,  Paris,  in  1867,  with  Nilsson  as 
Estella.  Neither  the  book  nor  M.  Jules  Cohen's  music 
proved  particularly  attractive  then ;  and,  when  given  at 
Covent  Garden  thirteen  years  later,  it  was  generally  agreed 
that  Mme.  Patti  would  have  done  better  to  leave  the  opera 
to  the  oblivion  that  it  deserved.1 

On  the  whole,  however,  it  must  be  admitted  that  admir- 
able discretion  was  shown  in  the  choice  of  her  repertory. 
For  this,  in  the  early  days,  the  credit  should  go  to  her  father 
and  to  Maurice  Strakosch.  The  parts  that  they  picked  out 
for  her  were  the  parts  she  sang  during  the  greater  portion  of 
her  career. 

Even  a  heavy  role  like  Valentino,  in  "Les  Huguenots" 
(which  she  first  essayed  when  a  girl  at  New  Orleans,  then 
took  up  again  at  Liege  on  her  return  from  Russia  in  1870) 
remained  for  some  years  her  favorite  tour  de  force  on  the 
occasion  of  her  "annual  benefit"  at  Covent  Garden.  She 
sang  it  there  first  in  July,  1871,  with  no  less  distinguished  a 
Kaoul  than  Mario,  who  two  or  three  nights  later  bade  fare- 

1  In  a  review  of  the  opera  season,  shortly  after  the  production  of 
"Velleda"  at  Covent  Garden,  the  author  wrote  as  follows  in  the  Sunday 
Times  of  July  23,  1882: 

"As  for  'Velleda,'  we  can  only  trust  that  its  failure  will  prove  a 
lesson  to  Mme.  Patti  not  to  bring  over  any  more  unknown  operas  by 
obscure  Frenchmen  for  Mr.  Gye  to  produce  simply  because  they  provide 
soprano  parts  well  suited  to  the  diva's  voice  and  means.  Even  the 
genius  of  Mme.  Patti  cannot  redeem  from  mediocrity  music  that  would 
not  otherwise  be  thought  worth  taking  out  of  a  composer's  portfolio; 
but  as  yet  not  one  of  her  numerous  trouvailles  has  turned  out  a  prize, 
and  the  only  result  has  been  to  exclude  operas  that  have  already  gained 
Continental  fame  or  new  works  by  native  musicians  who  can  write  as 
well  as  either  M.  Cohen  or  M.  Lenepveu." 


192  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

well  to  the  stage  as  Fernando  in  "La  Favorita";  but  the 
critics,  albeit  full  of  admiration  for  the  talent  displayed  in  this 
effort,  would  not  allow  that  it  was  entirely  successful.  Here 
is  a  specimen  of  the  guarded  kind  of  language  they  wrote: 

We  are  so  convinced  of  the  earnestness  of  Mine.  Patti  in  what- 
ever she  attempts  that  we  prefer  awaiting  another  opportunity  of 
forming  a  judgment  as  to  her  capabilities  for  excelling  in  the  new 
sphere  to  which  she  is  now  apparently  directing  her  strength. 
Though  a  first  experience  does  not  justify  a  verdict  of  unqualified 
approval,  it  is  equally  insufficient,  on  the  other  hand,  to  warrant 
condemnation  without  appeal.  The  performances  of  no  artist  whom 
we  can  call  to  mind  have  been  worthier  calm  and  deliberate  con- 
sideration than  those  of  Mme.  Patti. 

Two  years  later  the  Musical  World  said: 

Although  the  fresh  effort,  brilliant  as  it  undoubtedly  was,  has  not 
changed  our  opinion  that  Valentina  is  among  those  characters  which, 
for  certain  reasons,  do  not  lie  easily  within  her  means,  there  were 
features  in  Mme.  Patti's  impersonation  which  placed  it  apart  from 
any  other  Valentino  we  have  seen. 

The  allusion  here  was  undoubtedly  to  the  rare  individuality, 
the  supreme  beauty  of  her  singing  in  this  part.  While  abso- 
lutely traditional  as  a  reading,  it  yet  seemed  to  impart  a 
new  aspect  to  the  music.  Even  Joseph  Bennett  was  con- 
strained to  say  in  the  Daily  Telegraph:  "Not  in  our  rec- 
ollection at  least,  has  the  music  of  Meyerbeer's  Valentina 
received  so  refined,  unforced,  rigidly  accurate,  and  masterly 
a  reading." 

Another  sound  adviser  was  Frederick  Gye.  So  long  as 
he  stood  at  the  helm  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  his  chief 
prima  donna's  few  errors  of  judgment  were  restricted  to 
those  instances  in  which  "undue  influence"  got  the  best  of 
her  good  sense  and  good  nature.     One  or  two  of  these  have 


DESDEMONA,    1871 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  193 

been  cited,  but  Mr.  Gye  (no  doubt  after  consultation  with 
Costa)  generally  counselled  the  right  thing.  He  may,  as  we 
have  seen,  have  had  a  habit  of  strengthening  his  prospectus 
at  her  expense.  Thus  he  put  her  down  for  Rossini's  "Donna 
del  Lago"  in  1871  and  for  Verdi's  "Vepres  Siciliennes"  in 
1877,  and  neither  promise  was  kept. 

But  the  unfulfilled  production  of  "Carmen"  set  down  for 
Mine.  Patti  in  1878,  and  that  of  "Mireille"  in  1880,  whether 
seriously  intended  or  not,  ought  not  to  be  credited  to  Mr. 
Gye.  He  had,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  retired  from  management 
in  1877,  and  in  December,  1878,  he  was  killed  by  a  gun  acci- 
dent. With  his  departure  the  "halcyon  days"  of  Italian 
opera  may  be  said  to  have  ended. 

On  the  other  hand,  Patti  prolonged  for  a  brief  space  the 
life  of  operas  that  displayed  her  gifts  to  the  highest  advan- 
tage, but  whose  Italian  popularity  was  even  then  moribund. 
Among  these  may  be  mentioned  Rossini's  "Otello"  (1871), 
wherein  she  had  Mongini  and  Graziani  for  her  associates. 
Davison  thought  her  impersonation  of  Desdemona  quite  re- 
markable : 

Her  reading  of  the  character  is  not  that  of  Pasta  and  Grisi,  but 
that  of  Malibran  and  Sophie  Cruvelli — the  genuine  reading,  we  can 
but  think.  Mme.  Patti's  Desdemona,  while  in  certain  forcible  situa- 
tions highly  impassioned,  is  eminently  graceful  and  sympathetic. 
She  is  able  to  achieve  the  combination  of  pathetic  sentiment  with 
florid  execution.  .  .  .  The  last  act  is  her  very  finest.  The  exqui- 
sitely plaintive  "Willow  Song"  is  most  touching.  The  embellish- 
ments— Rossini's  own,  by  the  way — are  as  perfectly  executed  as 
they  are  perfectly  composed  (Times). 

Again,  in  1873,  when  Verdi's  "Ernani"  was  mounted  for 
the  first  time  at  Covent  Garden,  no  one  fell  in  love  with  the 
opera ;  but  the  triumph  of  the  Elvira,  according  to  the  same 
authority,  was  indisputable: 


194  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

It  is  always  agreeable  to  hear  Mine.  Patti  in  some  new  part,  She 
invariably  brings  a  reading  of  her  own  and  puts  the  stamp  of  her 
individuality  upon  whatever  she  undertakes.  Since  Sophie  Cru- 
velli,  who  possessed  unlimited  means  for  the  task,  we  have  not  heard 
the  music  of  Elvira  sung  so  uniformly  well,  except  by  Angelina 
Bosio;  while  it  would  be  difficult  to  imagine  anything  more  poet- 
ically conceived,  more  justly  balanced,  or  more  thoroughly  finished 
than  Mme.  Patti's  dramatic  realisation. 

And  so  with  the  same  composer's  "Luisa  Miller"  in  the 
following  year : 

In  spite  of  Mme.  Patti's  admirable  performance, — and  admirable 
it  is  from  beginning  to  end,  worthy  of  the  great  artist  whom  all 
acknowledge, — it  is  nevertheless  very  doubtful  if  "Luisa  Miller"  can, 
under  any  circumstances,  keep  the  stage. 

These  operas  were  revived  occasionally,  then  by  degrees 
fell  out  of  the  current  repertory.  Such,  however,  was  not 
the  fate  of  Rossini's  "Semiramide,"  when  Mme.  Patti 
made  up  her  mind  to  attempt  at  Covent  Garden  the  Homburg 
"honeymoon"  role  so  long  identified  in  London  with  Grisi 
and  Tietjens. 

Her  venture  was  justified  by  one  of  the  most  emphatic 
of  all  her  successes.  Given  during  the  season  of  1878,  with 
Scalchi  as  Arsace  and  Maurel  as  Assur,  the  opera  entered 
upon  a  new  lease  of  life,  which  endured  as  long  as  the 
stage  life  of  the  diva  herself.  I  remember  the  night  well, 
more  especially  for  two  things — Patti's  magnificent  singing 
of  "Bel  raggio"  with  the  new  Rossini  changes  and  cadenzas; 
and  the  extraordinary  effect  that  she  created  with  Scalchi 
in  the  famous  duet,  "Giorno  d'orrore."  I  thought  the  au- 
dience would  bring  the  roof  down. 

Let  it  be  noted  that  she  had  deferred  her  appearance  in 
London  as  Semiramide  until  after  the  death  of  Tietjens, 
which  occurred  in  1877.     This  was  wise,  because  the  char- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  195 

acter  had  long  been  associated  in  the  minds  of  the  public 
with  the  ample  and  imposing  personality  of  that  artist,  and 
it  was  difficult  for  old  opera-goers  to  visualize  a  real  Semi- 
ramide  in  the  svelte  and  delicate  figure  of  their  beloved 
Adelina.  "She  will  be  singing  Norma  next,"  said  one 
grumpy  habitue  in  my  hearing.1  Nevertheless,  every  one  ac- 
cepted her  in  the  new  part  without  the  smallest  reserve,  and 
had  perforce  to  admit  that  Rossini's  judgment  in  the  mat- 
ter had  been  entirely  correct.  The  general  verdict  was  fairly 
reflected  in  the  Pall  Mall  Gazette: 

That  Mme.  Patti  would  find  all  the  music  of  Semiramide  well 
within  her  resources  must  have  been  known  beforehand  to  everyone 
who  had  ever  heard  her  in  Rossinian  opera.  Others  were  aware  that 
her  impersonation  would,  in  a  dramatic  point  of  view,  be  all  that 
could  be  desired.  Mme.  Patti  does  not  walk  the  stage  like  a  con- 
ventional stage  queen,  with  measured  step,  lofty  bearing,  and  head 
slightly  thrown  back  in  token  of  general  disdain.  Always  natural, 
always  entering  into  the  spirit  of  the  character  she  undertakes,  she 
is  queenly,  not  through  any  deliberate  assumption  of  regal  airs,  but 
because  in  the  exercise  of  her  high  dramatic  faculty  she  becomes 
Semiramide  herself.  She  is  as  queenly  as  it  is  possible  to  be  with- 
out ceasing  to  be  womanly. 

In  attacking  one  of  Pauline  Lucca's  greatest  roles,  Selika 
in  "L'Africaine,"  Patti  was  not  upon  equally  safe  ground. 
The  new  part,  which  she  first  tried  at  Covent  Garden  in  1879 
(Nicolini  the  Vasco  di  Gama;  Lassalle,  then  making  his  debut, 
the  Nelusko),  pleased  only  a  few  thick-and-thin  admirers. 
Comparing  the  two  Selikas,  one  critic  said:  "Mme.  Lucca's 
African  queen,  admirable  according  to  her  individual  concep- 
tion, partakes  more  or  less  of  the  ideal  savage ;  while  that  of 
Mme.  Patti,  in  every  accent,  look,  and  gesture,  reveals  the 

i  And  why  not?  She  would  have  made  a  splendid  Norma.  Yet 
somehow  the  part  did  not  appeal  to  her,  and  after  her  childhood  she 
scarcely  ever  sang  "Casta  diva." 


196  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

tender,  anxious,  devoted  woman."  The  latter  was  not,  of 
course,  sufficient  to  constitute  the  real  Selika.  Truth  to  tell, 
she  never  really  felt  at  home  in  the  part,  and  only  sang  it  two 
or  three  times  altogether. 

The  "Ai'da"  year  (1876)  was  big  with  fate  for  the  heroine 
of  these  pages.  For  some  time  rumor  had  been  busy  with 
stories  that  suggested  growing  unhappiness  in  the  marital 
relations  between  the  Marquise  de  Caux  and  the  Marquis. 
Those  stories  were  not  exaggerated.  The  pair  had  been 
married  nearly  eight  years,  but  it  had  not  taken  them  all 
that  time  to  discover  that  they  were  ill  suited  to  each  other. 
During  the  first  year  or  two  things  had  gone  tolerably  well. 
After  that  husband  and  wife  began  to  disagree,  until  finally 
they  found  that  there  was  scarcely  a  question  upon  which 
they  were  of  one  mind.  Then  they  came  to  the  conclusion 
tthat  it  was  time  to  part.  Accordingly,  a  formal  separation 
took  place  in  1877. 

Meanwhile — to  complete  this  part  of  our  story — the  Mar- 
quis de  Caux  continued  to  live  in  Paris,  and  duly  intimated 
his  intention  of  sequestrating  whatever  sums  his  wife  might 
earn  in  France.  She  made  it  a  point  not  to  sing  there.  In 
1884,  however,  all  obstacles  to  a  legal  separation  were  re- 
moved by  Mine.  Patti  making  an  offer  to  divide  her  fortune 
with  the  Marquis.  His  share  was  said  to  have  amounted 
to  about  a  million  and  a  half  francs.  In  the  following  year 
both  parties  sued  in  the  French  courts  for  a  divorce,  and 
after  considerable  delay  it  was  granted  in  1885.  Thence- 
forward the  Marquis  disappears  from  the  scene. 

In  1886  Mme.  Patti  was  married  to  Signor  Xicolini.  They 
provided  themselves  with  an  English — or,  rather,  a  Welsh — 
home,  having  purchased  the  freehold  of  a  beautiful  estate 
in  the  Swansea  Valley,  now  familiar  to  all  the  world  as 
Craig-y-Nos  Castle.     This  name  is  derived  from  the  Craig- 


MARIE 
Fille  du  Regiment,   1871 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  197 

y-Nos,  or  "Mountain  of  the  Night,"  facing  the  spot  on 
which  the  castle  was  erected.  It  has  been  correctly  de- 
scribed as  an  "oasis  in  the  desert";  for,  while  the  scenery 
in  this  part  of  the  valley  is  very  striking,  the  surrounding 
country  for  many  miles  is  wild  and  rugged  without  being 
interesting.  The  castle  itself  was  greatly  improved  and 
enlarged  by  Mme.  Patti ;  but  upon  this  subject  there  will 
be  more  to  say  in  a  subsequent  chapter. 

The  civil  contract  of  the  marriage  with  Signor  Nicolini 
was  signed  before  the  French  Consul  in  Swansea  on  June 
9,  1886.  The  witnesses  were  M.  Thomas  Johnson  (of  the 
Paris  Figaro)  and  Mr.  Wilhelm  Ganz,  both  old  friends  of 
the  bride.  On  the  return  to  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  congratu- 
latory addresses  were  presented  on  behalf  of  various  local 
bodies.  Next  day  the  religious  ceremony  was  performed 
at  the  (Protestant)  parish  church  of  the  neighboring  vil- 
lage of  Ystradgynlais,  in  the  presence  of  a  crowded  con- 
gregation. The  vicar,  the  Rev.  G.  Glanby,  officiated,  assisted 
by  two  curates.  The  bride  was  led  to  the  altar  by  M. 
Maynard,  of  Paris,  and  Wilhelm  Ganz  acted  as  best  man. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Patti  and  Personal  Influences — Her  New  Secretary,  Franchi — The  Ques- 
tion of  Higher  Fees — Strakosch  Justifies  the  Advance — Nilsson  and 
Patti  Lead  the  Way — Tours  in  Italy  (1878-80) — America  Revisited — 
Experimental  Tour  in  1881  a  Failure  Owing  to  Bad  Management 
— Better  Results  under  Mapleson  (1882) — Three  Operatic  Seasons  in 
the  United  States;  Terms  Rising  to  £1,000  a  Night — Opposition  in 
New  York  (1883) — The  Metropolitan  and  German  Opera — Visits  to 
Salt  Lake  City  and  San  Francisco — Twenty-fifth  Anniversary  of  the 
New  York  Debut — The  Banquet  and  Various  Celebrations — Maple- 
son's  Talent  for  Descriptive  and  Other  Accounts 

T.HE  contrast  between  the  artificial  melange  of  aristo- 
cratic and  artistic  surroundings  heretofore  imposed 
upon  the  Marquise  de  Caux,  and  the  tranquil,  solid  domes- 
tic menage  now  formed  by  Mme.  Adelina  Patti-Nicolini  was 
extremely  marked.  The  effect  of  the  change  quickly  be- 
came perceptible  to  her  more  intimate  friends;  and  it  did 
not  diminish  as  time  went  on.  She  was  always  very  im- 
pressionable and — alike  as  a  woman  and  an  artist — pecu- 
liarly sensitive  to  the  opinions  of  those  around  her.  Her 
disposition  and  character,  in  the  moulding  of  which  her  father 
and  her  brother-in-law  had  taken  so  conspicuous  a  part, 
had  undergone  little  modification  during  the  seven  years  of 
her  first  marriage.  But  the  Marquis  had  colored  her  views 
of  things  and  people;  and,  as  always,  her  ideas  had  been 
largely  influenced  by  her   companions  of  the  moment. 

Among  these,  by  far  the  most  important  at  this  time  was 
an  Italian  named  Franchi,  who,  on  the  recommendation 
of  Maurice  Strakosch,  had  been  engaged  by  the  Marquis  de 
Caux  in  1869  to  act  as  her  secretary  and  homme  d'affaires.1 

i  Franchi  worked  in  a  somewhat  similar  capacity  for  Strakosch  in 

108 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  199 

He  had  received  a  good  training  and  proved  to  be  an  excellent 
man  for  the  post.  Nicolini,  who  had  previously  met  Fran- 
chi  in  Paris,  had  great  confidence  in  him.  His  services 
were  consequently  retained  under  the  new  regime,  and  he 
remained  in  Mine.  Patti's  employ  for  a  period  altogether  of 
about  fifteen  years.  It  may  be  mentioned  that  she  did  not 
pay  him  a  salary.  He  received  what  was  probably  more 
profitable  remuneration  in  the  shape  of  a  substantial  com- 
mission upon  her  earnings. 

In  a  business  sense,  the  combined  influence  of  Nicolini 
and  Franchi  quickly  became  apparent:  first  of  all  in  a 
sensible  augmentation  of  her  fees,  and  later  on  in  a  dispo- 
sition to  accept  engagements  for  countries  that  the  famous 
singer  had  not  visited  hitherto.  Her  terms  for  Covent  Gar- 
den had  so  far  remained  unaltered.  Mr.  Gye  had  paid  her 
£100  a  night  for  several  years,  and  would  most  likely  have 
continued  at  that  figure  until  the  end,  had  she  not  heard 
that  Nilsson  was  getting  £200  a  night  from  Mr.  Mapleson. 
For  Patti  to  accept  lower  fees  than  Nilsson  was,  of  course, 
out  of  the  question.  Mr.  Gye  was  obliged  not  only  to  spring 
at  one  jump  to  the  higher  amount,  but  to  exceed  it.  Her 
cachet  was  accordingly  fixed  at  two  hundred  guineas,  and 
from  that  level  it  never  afterwards  rose  or  fell  as  long  as 
the  Gye  management  lasted. 

But,  if  her  terms  for  the  Continental  opera  houses  went 
steadily  up,  it  was  not  at  a  greater  rate  than  was  warranted 
by  the  diva's  drawing  powers.  She  was  invariably  a  source 
of  substantial  profit.     Maurice  Strakosch  observes:1 

Paris  in  1873,  when  the  latter,  whom  the  Ministre  des  Beaux-Arts  had 
appointed  director  of  the  Theatre-Italien,  was  engaging  his  artists.  At 
the  end  of  the  season,  however,  the  Minister,  rinding  that  Strakosch 
was  unable  to  carry  on  the  undertaking  without  loss,  withdrew  his  sub- 
vention (100,000  francs),  whereupon  he  resigned  his  position  and  re- 
sumed work  as  a  teacher  and  agent, 
i  "Souvenirs  d'un  Impresario." 


liOU  THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  trouble  is  that  the  cantatrices  of  to-day  all  reckon  themselves 
Pattis  and  Nilssons,  and  regard  themselves  as  their  equals,  if  not 
lor  their  qualities,  at  least  for  the  extent  of  their  fees.  If  Mme. 
Adelina  Patti  could  sing  every  evening,  there  would  be  no  harm  in 
according  her  an  extraordinary  sum  for  each  representation,  since 
the  director  would  assuredly  find  his  balance  on  the  right  side;  and 
if  that  director  could  solve  the  problem  of  arranging  for  Mme.  Paid 
and  Mme.  Nilsson  to  .sing  on  alternate  nights,  his  fortune  would 
be  made.  But  when  one  or  other  of  these  artists  has  to  be  replaced 
by  singers  of  inferior  class,  who  ask  relatively  the  same  figures 
for  their  services,  ruin  is  almost  certain. 

As  will  have  been  seen,  it  was  not  Patti  but  Nilsson  who 
led  the  way  in  t he  demand  for  higher  fees.  The  former 
did  not  follow  the  example  of  her  Swedish  contemporary 
;il i road  until  she  found  that  foreign  operatic  managers  were 
willing  to  pay  her  more.  This  they  really  did,  because  they 
knew  her  to  be  under  all  circumstances  what  Americans  call 
a  "money-making  proposition";  and  it  was  an  indisput- 
able fact,  universally  admitted,  that  no  European  impres- 
ario who  secured  a  contract  with  Patti  ever  incurred  a  loss 
over  it.  The  same  record  applies  to  the  United  States,  save 
in  the  one  or  two  instances  where  the  enterprise  was  marred 
by  pure  mismanagement. 

Obviously,  Patti  had  a  perfect  right  to  double  or  treble 
her  terms  if  she  pleased;  and  at  the  instigation  of  Nicolini 
and  Franchi  she  did  so.  But  it  would  be  unjust  to  charge 
her,  on  that  account,  with  having  inaugurated  the  era  of 
exorbitant  operatic  fees.  She  was  not  the  first  great  prima 
donna  to  command  huge  salaries,  though,  as  we  shall  see, 
she  was  to  break  every  record  in  that  direction  and  receive 
the  largest  sums  ever  paid  to  a  singer.  It  was  not  her  fault 
if  opera  singers  less  gifted  and  endowed,  with  inferior  earn- 
ing capacity,  also  began  to  raise  their  terms,  and  found  man- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  201 

agers  weak  enough  to  accede  to  their  demands.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  artistic  consequences  of  the  new  development  were 
frequently  regrettable  in  the  extreme. 

Thus,  the  more  the  impresario  had  to  pay  Mme.  Patti, 
the  less  he  could  afford  to  expend  upon  the  remainder  of 
his  troupe ;  and  when  the  supporting  artists  were  unworthy 
of  association  with  her,  the  ensemble  suffered  in  proportion. 
A  well-known  contemporary  critic  referred  to  the  practice  in 
these  terms: 

No  person  of  ordinary  musical  taste  can  care  for  an  operatic 
representation  in  which  one  singer  is  as  admirable  as,  under  the 
circumstances,  she  can  be,  while  the  others  are  quite  incompetent. 
.  .  .  Rachel,  Kistori,  Sarah  Bernhardt,  have  all  been  guilty  of  the 
fault  charged  against  Mme.  Patti,  and  which  in  the  early  part  of 
the  century  used  to  be  charged  against  Mme.  Catalani.  But  an 
artist,  however  great,  who  consents  to  perform  in  the  midst  of  in- 
adequate supporters  ceases  to  be  more  than  a  highly  interesting 
curiosity,  or,  let  us  say,  phenomenon.1 

Maurice  Strakosch  told  the  writer  of  the  lines  just 
quoted  that  "When  she  sang  in  Vienna  at  the  beginning  of 
1863  she  was  receiving  one  thousand  pounds  a  month."  A 
quarter  of  a  century  later  she  waL'  to  receive  (in  the  United 
States)  one  thousand  pounds  a  night!  Midway  between 
these  periods  Franchi  was  being  instructed  to  "arrange  the 
contract"  with  the  Continental  impresarios  at  anywhere  near 
5,000  francs  (£200)  a  performance. 

Nicolini  always  insisted  on  her  being  paid  her  full  terms. 
As  a  rule,  too,  besides  singing  with  her  himself,  he  stipu- 
lated that  a  strong  supporting  company  should  be  provided. 
In  1878  he  persuaded  her  to  accept  a  liberal  offer  from 
Maurice  Strakosch  to  undertake  a  tour  in  Italy.  It  com- 
prised visits  to  Milan,  Genoa,  Florence,  Rome,  and  Naples; 

i  "The  Prima  Donna,"  by  H.  Sutherland  Edwards,  Vol.  II,  p.  83. 


202  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

and  everywhere  there  was  the  same  tale  of  triumphant 
success.  The  most  remarkable  demonstrations  occurred  at 
Milan,  where  Patti  and  Nicolini  appeared  together  at  La 
Scala  in  "Ai'da"  for  ten  consecutive  representations. 

.Maurice  Strakosch  in  his  "Souvenirs"  thus  comments  upon 
this  Italian  tour: 

One  cannot  imagine  the  enthusiasm  that  the  Italians  displayed 
towards  the  diva;  it  sounds  more  fairylike  than  real.  ...  In  the 
towns  which  Patti  passed  through  the  hotels  were  crowded  to  excess; 
the  people  from  the  country  round  about  simply  rushed  to  hear 
her;  they  slept  literally  in  the  streets  and  in  the  public  places. 
However  vast  the  theatres  in  which  she  sang,  the  stage  every  night 
was  completely  strewn  with  flowers.  The  price  of  entrance  alone 
cost  20  francs;  it  might  be  impossible  to  see  Patti,  but  she  could  be 
heard  from  a  corridor,  and  that  was  enough — the  public  was  de- 
lighted. Stalls  cost  50  francs  and  private  boxes  any  price  up  to 
2,000  francs  (£80).  The  average  receipts  always  exceeded  40,000 
francs  (£1,600).  .  .  .  M.  Nicolini,  whose  tenor  voice  was  of  beauti- 
ful quality,  shared  with  Muie.  Patti  the  applause  of  the  spectators. 
He  had  previously  left  pleasant  memories  in  Italy,  and  the  cordial 
reception  accorded  him  during  this  last  tour  proved  that  he  had 
not  been  forgotten. 


&' 


For  a  couple  of  3rears  after  this  successful  Italian  venture, 
Europe  continued  to  satisfy  the  ambitious  cravings  of  Nico- 
lini and  Franchi.  Then  there  slowly  loomed  upon  the  hori- 
zon the  beckoning  shadow  of  another  continent,  from  whose 
shores  at  that  time  artists  of  distinction  were  wont  to  return 
with  exciting  reports  of  fabulous  wealth,  a  fanatical  love 
of  music,  and  profits  galore.  It  did  not  need  a  great  deal 
or  argument  to  convince  Mine.  Patti  that  she  might  with 
advantage  revisit  the  country  of  her  infancy  and  girlhood. 
She  decided  to  do  so  in  the  late  autumn  of  1881,  at  which 
date  she  had  been  away  from  America  rather  more  than 
twenty  years. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  203 

The  expedition  took  the  form  of  a  concert  tour,  and  un- 
fortunately it  was  not,  from  the  American  point  of  view, 
well  organized.  The  services  of  a  transatlantic  manager  be- 
ing dispensed  with,  there  was  a  decided  lack  of  the  "bold 
advertisement"  and  sensational  trumpet-blowing  that  usu- 
ally lend  eclat  (and  consequent  profit)  to  the  American 
visits  of  artists  of  international  fame.  Doubtless  it  has  been 
expected  that  the  name  Patti  would  alone  suffice  to  "do  the 
trick."  But,  as  it  turned  out,  the  new  generation  of  New 
Yorkers  "knew  not"  Patti.  Asked  to  pay  ten  dollars  a  seat 
to  hear  her,  they  politely  relinquished  that  privilege  to  her 
old  friends  and  admirers,  who  did  not  muster  audiences 
big  enough  to  fill  the  room.  The  receipts  at  the  first  New 
York  concert  amounted  to  no  more  than  $3,000;  at  the 
second  to  as  little  as  $1,000 !  Only  after  the  diva  had  sung 
on  behalf  of  a  charity  and  cut  down  the  charge  for  seats 
to  five  dollars  (reserved)  and  two  dollars  (unreserved)  did 
the  business  begin  to  improve. 

She  then  placed  the  direction  of  affairs  in  the  hands  of 
Mr.  Henry  E.  Abbey,  who  had  earned  some  repute  as  Ameri- 
can manager  for  Mme.  Sarah  Bernhardt.  He  speedily  organ- 
ized a  concert  tour  in  the  Eastern  States  which  on  the  whole 
prospered  fairly  well.  But  New  York  wanted  to  hear  Patti 
only  in  opera.  So  a  few  performances,  with  an  exceedingly 
weak  supporting  company,  were  given  in  February  and 
March,  1882,  at  the  old  Wallack's  Theatre  on  Broadway, 
and  with  these  the  ill-starred  undertaking  came  to  a  conclu- 
sion. 

Evidently  Franehi  had  not  understood  American  cam- 
paigning. However,  Mme.  Patti  was  not  the  woman  to  be 
discouraged  by  that  rarest  of  all  her  experiences,  a  quasi- 
failure,  particular^  when  she  knew  the  cause  and  perceived 
the  remedy.  The  latter  presented  itself  on  the  spot  in  the 
burly  person  of  Colonel  James  Henry  Mapleson,  who  by  now 


204  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

was  an  established  impresario  in  both  hemispheres.  His  sea- 
son at  the  Academy  of  .Music  New  York,  had  been  running 
concurrently  with  the  before-mentioned  Patti  concerts,  and 
she  had  in  course  of  her  lour  sung  under  his  management 
at  the  Cincinnati  Opera  Festival,  receiving  a  very  high  fee. 
Moreover,  Messrs.  Ernest  and  Herbert  Gye  (sons  of  Fred- 
erick  Gye,  and  now  her  Covent  Garden  directors)  were  inter- 
ested at  this  time  in  Mapleson  \s  American  speculations. 

When,  therefore,  the  persuasive  Colonel  offered  Mme. 
Patti  big  terms  to  sing  for  him  at  the  Academy  of  Music 
the  following  winter,  he  found  a  ready  listener;  and  when 
he  further  consented  to  engage  Signor  Nicolini  as  principal 
tenor,  all  obstacles  were  removed.  The  bargain  was  signed 
and  sealed  before  they  quitted  New  York. 

The  new  company  arrived  from  England  early  in  the 
month  of  October,  1882;  and  this  time  a  "Patti  boom"  was 
engineered  in  masterly  fashion.  Mapleson  has  himself  de- 
scribed the  reception  in  his  own  picturesque  language : 1 

Of  course,  all  the  attention  of  the  public  was  concentrated  on  the 
expected  arrival  of  Patti.  ...  1  had  left  orders  for  a  telegram  to 
be  sent  to  me  as  soon  as  the  vessel  passed  Fire  Island,  in  order  that 
I  might  be  in  time  to  dress  and  go  down  to  one  of  the  specially 
chartered  steamers  with  Signor  Franchi,  Patti's  agent,  Commander 
Herbert  Gye,  and  a  party  of  artists  and  reporters,  accompanied  by 
military  bands,  fireworks,  etc.  The  Servia  was  out  in  the  middle 
of  the  stream,  and  we  steamed  up  alongside,  when  we  saw  Patti, 
who  had  been  up  since  half-past  four  in  the  morning,  in  feverish 
anxiety  to  reach  terra  firma.  Our  band  struck  up  "God  Save  the 
Queen,"  and  everyone  bared  his  head;  the  Englishmen  partly  from 
traditional  reverence,  but  must  of  those  present  from  admiration  of 
the  lyric  queen  who  had  come  for  another  reign  to  the  delighted 
people  of  New   York.  ...  In   the   evening  there   was  a   midnight 

i  "The  Mapleson  Memoirs,"  London,  1888.     Vol.  I,  p.  289. 


AIDA,    1876 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  205 

serenade  in  front  of  the  Windsor  Hotel,  and  ultimately  la  diva 
had  to  appear  at  the  window,  when  orchestra  and  chorus,  who  were 
outside,  performed  the  grand  prayer  from  "I  Lombardi."  After 
three  hearty  cheers  for  Adelina  Patti,  people  went  home  and  she 
was  left  in  peace.  She  made  her  debut  a  few  days  afterwards  in 
"Lucia  di  Lammermoor." 

Mapleson  paid  Mme.  Patti  $4,500  (£900)  a  performance 
for  the  American  season  of  1882-83,  including  the  services 
of  Signor  Nicolini — whenever  he  sang.  Allowing  for  that 
stipulation,  these  were  the  highest  terms  she  had  yet  re- 
ceived, albeit  not  so  high  that  they  did  not  permit  the  im- 
presario to  reap  a  satisfactory  margin  of  profit.  The  com- 
pany was  a  strong  one,  the  repertory  attractive,  the  public 
enthusiastic  in  its  response.  Although  for  forty  perform- 
ances she  received  the  (then)  record  sum  of  $175,000. 

Once,  when  Patti  and  Scalchi  appeared  together  in 
"  Semiramide, "  the  receipts  at  the  Academy  of  Music 
amounted  to  $14,000.  Elsewhere  in  the  United  States,  dur- 
ing a  prolonged  and  successful  tour,  the  same  figure  was 
also  reached  when  well-worn  operas  like  "Lucia"  were  given 
with  Patti  as  the  solitary  star.  She  had  now  not  only  re- 
conquered America,  but  achieved  fame  of  a  more  enduring 
kind  than  the  evanescent  popularity  of  her  girlhood  days. 

The  second  season  wound  up,  like  the  previous  one,  with 
an  operatic  festival  at  Cincinnati,  in  the  course  of  which 
she  appeared  in  "A'ida,"  "La  Traviata,"  "Semiramide," 
and  "Don  Giovanni."  The  leading  singers  of  Mapleson 's 
troupe  further  comprised  Albani,  Fursch-Madi,  Valleria,  Min- 
nie Hauk,  Scalchi,  Nicolini,  Campanini,  Mierzwinsky,  Ravelli, 
Galassi,  and  Del  Puente,  with  Arditi  as  conductor-in-chief. 
Before  leaving  for  England  Mme.  Patti  again  signed  with 
the  same  manager  for  the  following  season.  But  the  con- 
ditions were  by  then  to  have  undergone  a  considerable 
change. 


206  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

In  1883  the  old  Academy  of  Music  in  New  York  was  for 
the  first  time  faced  with  opposition  from  the  newly  erected 
Metropolitan  Opera  House.  The  primary  purpose  of  the 
latter  was  presumably  to  furnish  a  handsome  and  more 
commodious  opera  house  for  the  display  of  New  York  society 
in  all  its  wealth  of  finery  and  jewels  and  luxurious  extrava- 
gance. The  Gyes  of  Covent  Garden  had  struggled  in  vain 
to  secure  the  control  and  management  of  the  new  establish- 
ment. Mr.  Vanderbilt  and  his  co-stockholders  were  anxious 
for  it  to  be  directed  by  an  American  manager,  and  inci- 
dentally to  prove,  if  necessary,  that  New  York  was  quite 
capable  of  supporting  two  opera  houses. 

At  the  same  time,  they  were  desirous  of  securing  Mme. 
Patti  for  their  opening  season,  and,  having  appointed  Mr. 
Henry  Abbey  manager  of  the  Metropolitan,  they  made 
strenuous  efforts  through  him  to  lure  her  from  the  Maple- 
sonian  fold.  In  this  they  did  not  succeed,  although  Mr. 
Abbey's  offer  of  $5,000  a  night  for  her  services  compelled 
the  Colonel  ultimately  to  advance  to  that  figure  before  the 
diva  would  consent  to  bind  herself  to  him  afresh. 

Mr.  Abbey  contrived,  nevertheless,  to  carry  off  several  of 
the  artists  who  had  previously  sung  at  the  Academy  of  Music ; 
so  that,  with  Christine  Nilsson  for  his  prima  donna  assoluta 
and  a  brilliant  debutante  in  Mme.  Marcella  Sembrich,  the 
Metropolitan  possessed  a  strong  company.  Both  managers, 
indeed,  were  in  the  position  to  wage  a  tremendous  warfare; 
and  wage  it  they  did.  They  opened  on  the  same  evening 
(October  22,  1883),  and  fought  their  campaign  steadily  until 
Christmas.  Resuming  in  the  early  spring,  they  went  on  until 
Easter,  and  by  the  time  the  struggle  ended  each  side  had  sus- 
tained ruinous  losses.  According  to  Mr.  John  B.  Schoeffel 
(Mr.  Abbey's  partner),  the  deficit  at  the  Metropolitan 
amounted   to  nearly  $600,000.1     Mr.   Abbey  then  threw  up 

i  "Chapters  of  Opera,"  by  H.  E.  Krehbiel. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  207 

the  sponge  and  resigned  the  direction  of  the  Metropolitan, 
which  remained  shut  until  the  autumn  of  1884. 

Colonel  Mapleson  lost  heavily,  as  has  been  said;  yet  less 
severely  than  his  opponent,  and  thus  was  able  to  continue 
the  fight  for  two  more  seasons.  For  this  he  had  to  thank 
Mme.  Patti,  who,  in  spite  of  her  fee  of  $5,000  a  performance, 
"payable  in  advance,"  drew  sufficiently  crowded  houses  to 
be  his  main  source  of  profit.  She  had  made  her  rentree 
in  Rossini's  "La  Gazza  Ladra, "  which  had  not  been  heard 
in  New  York  for  many  years.  Otherwise  her  repertory  for 
the  season  contained  nothing  fresh  until  her  return  visit 
to  the  Empire  City  in  the  spring  of  1884,  when  she  appeared 
with  Signor  Nicolini  in  the  Italian  version  of  Gounod's 
"Romeo  et  Juliette"  for  the  first  time  in  America. 

It  was  during  the  provincial  tour  that  followed  the  New 
York  winter  season  of  1883  that  Mme.  Patti 's  manager 
found  it  hardest  to  make  ends  meet.  To  make  sure  of  her 
cachet,  she  had  to  insist  upon  the  fulfilment  of  the  clause  in 
her  contract  requiring  the  money  to  be  paid  to  her  agent 
before  each  performance  began.  Mapleson  himself  relates 
in  his  "Memoirs"  an  amusing  story  of  what  happened  in 
Philadelphia  on  the  night  when  she  was  to  sing  in  "La 
Traviata."  If  not  accurate  in  every  detail,  at  least  it  shows 
in  a  favorable  light  the  Colonel's  (and  Signor  Franchi's) 
sense  of  humor.1 

In  the  same  pages  there  is  a  vivid  account  of  many  other 
adventures  in  which  Mme.  Patti  was  concerned  during  the 
progress  of  this  American  tour.  Most  of  them  appear  to 
have  been  the  outcome  of  an  acute  rivalry  between  herself 
and  the  gifted  Hungarian  soprano,  Etelka  Gerster,  who  was 
unwise  enough  to  consider  that  she  ought  not  to  play  "sec- 
ond fiddle"  to  any  other  living  singer — not  even  Adelina 
Patti. 

i  See  Appendix  T. 


208  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  intrigues  and  quarrels  lhat  occurred  en  route  pro- 
vided Mapleson  with  constant  excitement  and — much  maie- 
rial  for  Ins  book.  They  seem  to  have  culminated  at  San 
Francisco,  where,  however,  a  timely  earthquake  brought 
everybody  to  their  senses.  Says  Arditi:  "Words  fail  me  to 
give  an  adequate  description  of  the  sensation  caused  there 
by  Patti  and  Gerster."  Nevertheless,  although  their  mana- 
ger announced  them  to  appear  together  as  Valentino,  and 
the  Queen  in  "Les  Huguenots"  they  steadfastly  declined  to 
do  so.1 

On  their  way  to  California  the  company  paid  a  visit  to 
Salt  Lake  City.  There  the  "little  lady-'  made  great  friends 
with  the  Mormon  Prophet,  Brigham  Young,  and,  accompa- 
nied by  some  of  his  apostles,  he  partook  of  a  dejeuner  in 
her  private  car,  which  stood,  as  usual,  in  a  siding  at  the 
railway  station.  He  requited  her  hospitality  by  allowing 
her  to  sing  at  an  afternoon  concert  in  the  vast  Mormon 
Tabernacle,  which  until  then  had  never  been  utilized  for 
any  but  religious  services.  The  prices  were  fixed  at  a  low 
figure  (two  dollars  and  a  dollar),  and  the  huge  place  was 
packed.  Brigham  Young  was  so  delighted  that  he  subse- 
quently attended  a  performance  of  "Lucia"  in  which  Patti 
sang  at  the  Salt  Lake  Theatre  on  the  same  evening. 

Still,  nothing  in  the  course  of  the  whole  tour  could  com- 
pare with  the  scenes  enacted  at  San  Francisco.     There  the 

i  This  was  in  consequence  of  what  had  happened  at  Chicago  earlier  in 
the  tour.  There  they  actually  did  sing  together  in  Meyerbeer's  opera, 
but,  through  a  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  ushers,  an  enormous  collec- 
tion of  floral  tributes,  which  should  have  been  handed  to  Mme.  Patti 
at  the  end  of  the  third  and  fourth  acts,  were  carefully  presented  to  her 
at  the  close  of  the  first,  where  Valentina  has  practically  nothing  to 
fling  and  the  honors  were  all  Mme.  Gerster's.  The  diva  was  much 
upset  by  the  contretemps,  for  which  she  was  in  no  way  responsible;  but, 
under  the  conditions,  no  sort  of  assurance  would  have  explained  it  away, 
nor  could  the  two  singers  ever  after  be  persuaded  to  appear  together  in 
the  same  opera. 


ERNEST   NICOLINI,   1887 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  209 

"Adelina  Patti  epidemic,"  as  Mapleson  called  it,  developed 
from  a  fever  into  a  condition  of  delirium  that  attacked  the 
whole  population  of  the  city,  and  lasted,  despite  the  occur- 
rence of  the  aforesaid  earthquake,  until  the  end  of  the  visit. 

The  excitement  began  with  the  preliminary  sale  of  tickets 
for  the  Patti  representations.  The  crowds  stood  in  line 
during  the  whole  of  the  night,  and  many  sold  their  places 
next  morning  at  from  ten  to  twenty  dollars  apiece.  Specu- 
lators obtained  fabulous  prices  for  seats.  Thousands  of 
people  were  unable  to  obtain  admission  at  the  opening  per- 
formance; moreover,  a  fraudulent  issue  of  bogus  tickets 
led  to  overcrowding  and  serious  trouble  inside  the  opera 
house  just  as  the  curtain  was  rising  on  "La  Traviata." 
Xext  day  the  police  intervened,  and  Mapleson  was  charged 
before  the  district  magistrate  with  violating  the  city  ordi- 
nance regulating  the  obstruction  of  passageways  in  theatres. 
He  was  convicted  and  fined  $75 ;  which,  however,  the  im- 
presario declares  that  the  judge,  "evidently  a  lover  of  music, 
consented  to  take  out  in  opera  tickets." 

The  reception  accorded  to  the  great  prima  donna  when 
she  appeared  as  Violetta  was  marked  by  indescribable  en- 
thusiasm. The  rush  to  hear  her  on  subsequent  nights  was 
such  that  the  stay  of  the  company  had  to  be  extended  an 
extra  week.  Altogether  the  Californian  receipts  must  have 
helped  in  a  considerable  measure  to  reduce  the  total  losses 
on  the  New  York  season,  which,  on  being  resumed  after  the 
close  of  the  tour,  proved  no  less  disastrous  than  before. 

Yet,  in  spite  of  Mapleson 's  evil  fortune,  Mme.  Patti  signed 
another  contract  with  him  for  the  season  of  1884-85.  He 
had  paid  her  regularly,  and  in  the  course  of  the  two  pre- 
ceding tours  she  received  from  him  a  total  sum  falling  not 
far  short  of  £90,000,  then  nearly  half  a  million  dollars.  She 
was  aware,  moreover,  that  he  was  again  to  be  backed  by  the 


21U  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

stockholders  of  the  Academy  of  Music— a  very  important 
security.  Owing  to  these  elements  of  strength,  certain  ef- 
forts now  made  by  the  stockholders  of  the  Metropolitan 
Opera  House  to  win  Mapleson  over  to  their  establishment 
proved  a  failure.  Poor  Henry  Abbey  was  too  near  ruin  to 
take  up  the  reins  again ;  and,  although  the  Gyes  entered 
into  further  negotiations,  their  attempts  to  gain  a  footing 
in  New  York  were  consistently  doomed  to  failure.  For  a 
time  it  really  seemed  as  if  there  would  be  no  opposition  to 
the  season  at  the  Academy. 

On  Mme.  Patti's  arrival  in  New  York  late  in  October, 
1884,  she  learned  of  the  recent  death  of  her  old  companion, 
Signor  Brignoli,  who  it  will  be  remembered,  had  sung  Ed- 
gardo  on  the  occasion  of  her  operatic  debut  in  "Lucia"  in 
1859.  Knowing  that  he  had  been  in  embarrassed  pecuniary 
circumstances,  she  at  once  offered  to  defray  the  funeral  ex- 
penses; but  this  had  already  been  done  by  another  friend. 
She  was  met,  as  usual,  at  quarantine  by  a  steamer  with  the 
Colonel  and  a  military  band  on  board.  The  newspaper  re- 
porters were  received  on  her  behalf  by  her  new  secretary 
and  manager,  Mr.  Charles  Levilly,  an  Englishman  of  French 
descent,  who,  a  few  weeks  before,  had  succeeded  the  diplo- 
matic Signor  Franchi. 

The  official  prospectus  inaugurated  a  new  form  of  Maple- 
sonian  joke — one  that  was  destined  to  become  classical.  It 
declared  this  to  be  Mme.  Patti's  "farewell  season  in  Amer- 
ica." As  we  shall  see,  it  proved  to  be  a  premature  an- 
nouncemenl.  Happily,  no  one  appears  to  have  taken  il 
seriously.  For  the  lime  being,  however,  it  was  not  con- 
tradicted, and,  indeed,  when  the  reporters  put  the  question 
to  the  prima  donna  herself,  she  replied: 

"Tli is  is  the  last  time  I  shall  come  to  America,  as  the 
physical  discomfort  of  crossing  the  ocean  is  too  great  for 
me  to  be  repeatedly  subjecting  myself  to  it." 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  211 

Other  great  artists  have  probably  said  the  same  thing 
just  after  passing  Sandy  Hook  at  the  end  of  a  disagreeable 
voyage.  It  would  have  been  as  well,  all  the  same,  had  the 
word  "farewell"  not  been  uttered  in  connection  with  Mme. 
Patti  for  another  fifteen  or  twenty  years. 

The  season  began  early  in  November,  Mme.  Patti  mak- 
ing her  reappearance  as  Rosina  in  "II  Barbiere."  On  the 
17th  of  the  same  month  the  Metropolitan  opened  its  doors 
with  German  opera,  now  exploited  for  the  first  time  in  New 
York  with  a  completely  organized  company  of  German  art- 
ists. The  venture  was  under  the  direction  (managerial  as 
well  as  artistic)  of  Dr.  Leopold  Damrosch,  a  talented  con- 
ductor hailing  from  Breslau,  who  had  already  lived  twelve 
years  in  America.  The  troupe  included  some  of  the  better- 
known  Wagnerian  singers — notably  Materna  and  Marianne 
Brandt — then  popular  at  Bayreuth  and  elsewhere.  The  per- 
formances were  for  the  most  part  excellent,  and  fulfilled  a 
want  that  New  York,  with  its  large  Teutonic  element,  had 
long  felt. 

The  remarkable  success  of  the  new  enterprise  had  an  im- 
mediate effect  upon  the  receipts  at  the  older  house.  It 
became  increasingly  evident  that  New  York  was  losing  its 
taste  for  Italian  opera  of  the  old  school.  Not  even  the 
magic  name  of  Patti  was  capable  of  saving  the  unfortunate 
Colonel  Mapleson  from  renewed  financial  disaster.  At  the 
critical  moment  the  stockholders  withdrew  their  support,  and 
the  season  ended  in  December,  says  Mr.  Krehbiel,  "with  ruin 
staring  the  impresario  in  the  face."  Still,  the  tour  that 
followed  helped  him  somewhat  to  recoup  his  losses.  It  had 
its  golden  moments,  especially  at  San  Francisco  and  Chi- 
cago; above  all  whenever  Patti  and  Scalchi  appeared  to- 
gether in  " Semiramide, "  "Linda  di  Chamouni,"  "Martha," 
or  "Aida." 


212  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

One  interesting  incident  of  this  unsatisfactory  New  York 
season  remains  to  be  narrated,  namely,  the  celebration  of 
the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  Patti's  first  appearance  in 
opera  at  the  Academy  of  Music,  on  November  24,  1859. 
Mapleson  had  first  arranged  to  give  an  anniversary  per- 
formance of  the  same  opera  ("Lucia")  with  the  same  tenor, 
Brignoli,  in  the  part  of  Edgardo;  but  the  death  of  that 
artist  a  few  days  before  the  date  compelled  an  alteration 
in  the  programme.  "Martha"'  was  therefore  substituted,  with 
Scalchi,  Nicolini,  and  De  Anna  in  the  other  leading  parts; 
and  an  unusually  brilliant  audience  assembled  to  do  honor 
to  the  occasion.  At  the  close  there  was  a  demonstration  upon 
the  stage,  Patti  appearing  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  floral  display 
with  a  huge  American  eagle  for  its  central  feature.  A  mili- 
tary band  played  a  march,  and  the  house  cheered  frantically 
for  twenty  minutes  by  the  clock. 

Mapleson  has  related  with  much  gusto  in  his  "Memoirs" 
how  the  diva  was  subsequently  escorted  to  her  hotel,  in  "a 
carriage  with  four  milk-white  steeds."'  by  a  procession  of 
torch-bearers  and  mounted  police,  followed  by  a  wagon  from 
which  men  were  burning  colored  fires  and  letting  off  fire- 
works. All  of  this,  in  addition  to  an  orchestral  serenade 
under  her  hotel  windows,  was  organized  by  the  wily  Colonel 
himself,  who,  according  to  his  own  account,  was  "to  have 
taken  command  of  the  troops  as  brigadier.  My  horse,  how- 
ever, never  reached  me.  It  was  found  impossible  to  get  it 
through  the  crowd.  This  did  not  prevent  the  illustrated  pa- 
pers from  representing  me  on  horseback,  and  in  a  highly  mili- 
tary attitude." 

On  the  other  hand,  Mr.  Krehbiel  in  his  "Chapters  of 
Opera"  chronicles  the  whole  episode  with  undisguised  con- 
tempt. He  declares  that  the  "milk-white  steeds"  were  un- 
harnessed and  the  carriage  dragged  through  the  streets  to 
the  hotel  amid  wild  rejoicings — all  as  prearranged   by  the 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  213 

Colonel,  who,  however,  fails  to  mention  the  circumstance. 
Mr.  Krehbiel  assures  us  that  "Colonel  Mapleson  had  re- 
solved that  the  scene  should  be  enacted."     He  adds: 

To  make  sure  of  such  a  spontaneous  ovation  in  staid  New  York 
was  a  question  which  Mapleson  solved  by  hiring  fifty  or  more 
Italians  [choristers,  probably]  from  the  familiar  haunts  in  Third 
Avenue,  and  providing  them  with  torches,  to  follow  the  carriage, 
which  was  prosaically  dragged  along  to  its  destination  at  the  "Wind- 
sor Hotel.  As  a  demonstration  it  was  the  most  pitiful  affair  that  I 
ever  witnessed. 

This  impression  it  was,  no  doubt,  that  inspired  Mr.  Kreh- 
biel to  set  about  arranging  a  celebration  of  the  twenty-fifth 
anniversary  in  a  fashion  rather  more  after  his  own  heart. 
It  did  not,  for  certain  reasons,  assume  quite  the  form  that 
he  intended.  Nevertheless,  a  banquet  took  place — a  "stag 
party,"  as  they  call  it  in  America — at  which  some  seventy 
gentlemen  acted  as  hosts,  and  the  Colonel  made  his  appear- 
ance "in  the  glory  of  that  flawless,  speechless  dress  suit,  with 
the  inevitable  rose  in  the  lapel  of  his  coat.  Not  a  glance  did 
he  give  to  right  or  left,  but  with  the  grace  of  a  practised 
courtier  he  sailed  across  the  room,  sank  on  his  knees  before 
the  diva,  and  raised  her  hand  to  his  lips.  Such  a  smile  as 
rewarded  him ! ' ' 

After  the  banquet,  speeches  were  made  by  "William  Stein- 
way,  William  Winter,  Dr.  Damrosch,  and  other  notable  men, 
including  doubtless  Mr.  Krehbiel  himself;  for  bej^ond  ques- 
tion the  able  critic  was  at  that  time  a  genuine  and  fervent 
admirer  of  Patti.1  But  the  real  hero  of  the  occasion  was 
her  oldest  American  manager,  Max  Maretzek,  who  told  stories 
about  her  early  life  and  career.     Says  Mr.  Krehbiel : 

Amongst  other  things,  he 'illustrated  how  early  the  divine  Adelina 
had  fallen  into  the  ways  of  a  prima  donna  by  refusing  to  sing  at 

i  See  Appendix  U. 


214  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

a  concert  in  Tripler  Hall  unless  he,  who  was  managing  the  concert, 
would  first  go  out  and  buy  her  a  pound  of  candy,  lie  agreed  to  get 
the  sweetmeats,  provided  she  would  give  him  a  kiss  in  return.  In 
possession  of  her  box,  she  kept  both  the  provisions  of  her  contract. 
When  the  toastmaster  [i.e.,  the  chairman  of  the  banquet]  declared 
the  meeting  adjourned,  Putti  bore  straight  down  on  her  old  man- 
ager and  said : 

'"Max,  if  I  gave  you  a  kiss  for  a  box  of  candy  then,  I  '11  give  you 
one  for  nothing  now  !" 

And  she  did.1 

After  paying  return  visits  to  New  York  and  Boston,  the 
Mapleson  company  sailed  for  England  on  .May  2,  and  on 
their  arrival  Mme.  Palti  and  Signor  Nicolini  travelled,  as 
usual,  direct  to  Craig-y-Nos  Castle. 

Exactly  how  Colonel  Mapleson  stood  financially  at  the  end 
of  this  venture  it  would  be  hard  to  state  with  accuracy.  Ac- 
cording to  his  own  account,  it  had  netted  him  £30,000.  He 
congratulates  himself  on  having  severed  his  connection  with 
the  "Royal  Italian  Opera  Company,  Limited"  (then  in 
liquidation),  as  otherwise  "I  should  have  been  obliged  to 
hand  them  £15,000,  being  half  the  net  profit  of  this  last 
American  tour."  Very  different,  however,  is  the  version 
given  by  Mr.  Krehbiel,  who  declares  that  Mapleson  had  con- 
trived (surprising  fact !)  to  finish  up  the  season  owing  five  or 
six  thousand  dollars  to  Mme.  Patti,  and  instituted  a  suit  at 
law  in  New  York  against  Nicolini  "to  recover  ten  thousand 
dollars  for  failing  to  sing."  One  bill,  of  course,  would  have 
comfortably  offset  the  other.  But,  as  we  shall  perceive,  the 
sequel  does  not  indicate  the  existence  of  any  serious  break 
between  the  parties.  "A  fallacy  somewhere!"  as  W.  S. 
Gilbert  observes  in  "Ruddigore." 

The  probabilities  are  that  Mapleson  grossly  exaggerated 
the  total  of  his  profits  in  order  to  aim  a  shaft  at  the  Gyes, 

i  "Chapters  of  Opera,"  pp.  7*2-74. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  215 

with  whom  he  had  quarrelled,  and  who  had  now  been  com- 
pelled to  terminate  the  long  family  reign  at  Covent  Garden 
for  lack  of  capital  to  carry  on  the  concern.  Indeed,  a  merely 
cursory  perusal  of  the  "Mapleson  Memoirs"  will  suffice  to 
convince  the  reader  that  their  author  regarded  accurate  facts 
as  of  much  smaller  importance  than  proving  his  own  case 
or  hitting  out  at  persons  whom  he  owed  a  grudge.  His 
treatment  of  Mine.  Patti  in  this  respect  was  not  always  fair. 
She  figures  largely  in  the  story  of  his  career.  He  "ex- 
ploited" her  in  America  to  their  mutual  advantage.  It  is 
evident  that  he  admired  her  immensely,  and  that  he  was 
proud  of  his  association  with  the  great   artist. 

At  the  same  time,  his  numerous  innuendoes  and  doubtful 
anecdotes  make  it  clear  that  there  was  generally  an  arriere 
pensce.  He  could  never  quite  forgive  her  for  having 
brushed  him  aside,  when  she  first  came  to  London,  to  ally 
herself  with  Frederick  Gye  at  Covent  Garden.1  Further- 
more, loudly  as  he  boasted  of  paying  her  £1,000  a  night  in 
the  United  States,  he  never  thoroughly  relished  a  proceed- 
ing that  made  such  a  serious  inroad  upon  the  huge  stacks 
of  dollar  notes  and  gold  eagles  which  it  was  his  joy  to  see 
pouring  into  the  box-office. 

On  one  point  Mapleson  had  a  possible  grievance,  and  it 
is  of  sufficient  interest  to  warrant  mention  here.  His  con- 
tracts with  Mme.  Patti  contained  a  clause  liberating  her  from 
all  liability  to  attend  rehearsals : 

During  the  three  or  four  years  that  Mme.  Patti  was  with  me  in 
America  [he  says]  she  never  once  appeared  at  a  rehearsal.  When 
I  was  producing  "La  Gazza  Ladra,"  an  opera  which  contains  an 
unusually  large  number  of  parts,  there  were  several  members  of 
the  cast  who  did  not  even  know  Mme.  Patti  by  sight.     Under  such 

i  Yet  Mapleson  knew  perfectly  well  that  the  blame  for  this  diplo- 
matic move  was  due,  not  to  the  youthful  Adelina,  but  to  her  brother- 
in-law,  Maurice  Strakosch. 


216  THE   REIGN  OF  PATTI 

circumstances  all  idea  of  a  perfect  ensemble  was,  of  course,  out  of 
the  question.  It  was  only  on  the  night  of  performance,  and  in 
presence  of  the  public,  that  the  concerted  pieces  were  tried  for  the 
first  time  with  the  soprano  voice. 

This  non-attendance  at  rehearsals  was,  as  has  already 
been  related,  part  of  a  plan  originated  by  Maurice  Stra- 
kosch  for  sparing  his  sister-in-law  the  "wear  and  tear" 
of  what  is  perhaps  the  most  fatiguing  duty  that  a  prima 
donna  has  to  undergo.  At  that  more  juvenile  period  of  her 
career  it  was  unquestionably  a  wise  precaution.  It  became 
a  fixed  custom,  and,  save  in  the  case  of  final  rehearsals  of 
a  new  opera,  Mme.  Patti  was  seldom  known  to  depart  from 
it. 

There  is,  however,  the  good  excuse  that  the  round  of  char- 
acters in  which  the  public  demanded  to  hear  her  on  her  long 
tours  in  America  were  familiar  and  comparatively  limited. 
This  necessitated  constantly  going  over  the  same  ground.  Im- 
agine, therefore,  the  amount  of  physical  labor  that  would 
have  been  added  to  the  total  strain  of  her  long  stage  career 
if,  among  her  other  indulgences,  she  had  not  been  relieved 
from  the  hard  work  of  rehearsing  hackneyed  roles  at  every 
opera  house  she  sang  at ! 


CHAPTER  XV 

Decay  of  the  Gye  Regime — Maplescm  Attempts  a  Covent  Garden  Sea- 
son (1885) — He  Secures  Patti;  Also  the  Bond  Street  Libraries — The 
Diva's  Contract  and  Her  Colds — The  Author  Is  Introduced — His  First 
Interview  with  Patti  and  Xicolini — Her  "Carmen"  Secret  Comes  Out 
— An  Ambition  that  Involves  a  Failure — The  Assumption  of  Bizet's 
Heroine  Analyzed — The  Twenty-fifth  Covent  Garden  Anniversary — ■ 
Craig-y-Nos  Castle  and  Its  Host  and  Hostess  in  the  Eighties — Start 
of  the  Patti  Concerts  at  the  Albert  Hall — "Home,  sweet  home" — 
Abbey  Devises  a  "Farewell"  Tour  in  America — The  Question  of  Patti 's 
Farewells — She  Tries  "Carmen"  at  New  York — Her  One  and  Only 
Appearance  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre — Death  of  Maurice  Strakosch 

DURING  the  intervals  between  the  visits  to  America 
recorded  in  the  last  chapter  Mme.  Patti  punctually 
appeared  at  Covent  Garden  every  summer.  But  there  the 
old  order  was  changing.  The  managerial  talents  of  Fred- 
erick Gye  had  not  been  inherited  by  his  successors,  and  the 
fortunes  of  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  were  slowly  but  surely 
on  the  wane. 

Each  year  the  subscription  grew  smaller;  each  year  one 
noted  a  deterioration  in  that  atmosphere  of  stately  pomp 
and  stiff  exclusiveness  that  had  so  long  been  the  peculiar 
social  appanage  of  the  Covent  Garden  season.  The  history 
of  the  house  in  the  early  eighties  furnishes  some  melancholy 
chapters  of  decaying  grandeur,  of  diminishing  artistic  ef- 
fort and  public  support.  The  affairs  of  the  limited  liability 
company  which  had  carried  on  the  undertaking  after  the 
death  of  the  old  impresario  went  from  bad  to  worse ;  and 
with  the  close  of  the  season  of  1884  the  regime  of  the  Gyes 
had  passed  for  ever. 

The  share  taken  by  Mme.  Patti  in  these  concluding  seasons 

217 


218  THE  REIGN  OP  PATTT 

does  not  call  for  comment.  Such  new  roles  as  she  sang  during 
the  period  they  covered  were  unimportant ;  they  have,  indeed, 
been  already  enumerated  in  these  pages,  among  the  limited 
group  of  characters  actually  created  by  her  in  course  of  her 
uninterrupted  series  of  annual  appearances  at  Covent  Gar- 
den from  1861  till  1884, 

The  season  of  1885,  in  which  she  was  also  to  take  part, 
boasted  more  noteworthy  features.  It  had  been  fully  ex- 
pected that  there  would  be  no  opera  at  Covent  Garden  that 
year.  The  house  had  been  closed  for  some  months,  and  down 
to  the  middle  of  May  no  sign  was  forthcoming  that  it  would 
reopen.  Society  seemed  not  to  care  a  jot.  There  was  neither 
bitterness  in  Belgravia  nor  mourning  in  Mayfair.  English 
opera  was  at  that  moment  flourishing  anew,  under  Carl  Rosa. 
Italian  opera  was  "going  to  the  dogs,"  and  not  a  hand,  appar- 
ently, was  being  raised  to  save  it,  when  an  extraordinary 
thing  happened.  There  was  a  sudden  cry  of  "Mapleson  to  the 
rescue ! ' ' 

It  was  like  a  bolt  from  the  blue.  Back  from  America,  with 
— according  to  his  own  account — a  few  thousand  dollars  in 
his  pocket,  and  certainly  no  one  in  the  field  against  him, 
the  doughty  Colonel  had  seized  opportunity  by  the  forelock: 
he  had  secured  Covent  Garden  for  the  last  five  weeks  of  the 
London  season.  To  perform  what?  he  hardly  know:  Italian 
opera  of  some  sort,  of  course.  The  "class"  would  have  to 
depend  upon  the  support,  and  in  that  direction  things  could 
not  have  looked  more  unpromising.  Society  was  out  of  sorts. 
The  Queen  might  not  even  subscribe  for  the  Royal  box  which 
she  never  used.  The  Prince  of  Wales  loved  opera,  but  was 
not  yet  making  a  hobby  of  it.  Aristocratic  patrons,  except  a 
few  of  the  old  guard  from  Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  would  prob- 
ably keep  severely  away.     There  remained  the  "libraries." 

Accordingly,  Colonel  Mapleson  marched  up  and  down  Bond 
Street  and  canvassed  the  "trade."     But  the  trade  steadfastly 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  219 

refused  to  come  in.  What  inducement,  they  asked,  was  there 
to  guarantee  a  season  at  Covent  Garden  when  the  public  was 
sick  and  tired  of  Italian  opera  and  there  was  no  prospect 
of  a  "star"  who  could  attract  them?  Mapleson's  announce- 
ment that  he  had  taken  the  house  had  not  evoked  inquiry  for 
a  single  stall.  Then  he  disappeared  from  the  metropolis,  and 
not  even  his  closest  friends  knew  whither  he  had  journeyed. 

The  silence  that  ensued  lasted  about  a  week, — the  third 
week  in  May  or  thereabouts, — and  it  was  fast  deepening  into 
mystery  when  the  impresario  suddenly  reappeared  in  town. 
This  time  he  did  not  "march" — he  took  a  hansom  direct  to 
Mitchell's,  and  Bubb's,  and  Lacon  and  Oilier 's,  and  Keith, 
Prowse  's ;  and  he  flourished  before  their  wondering  gaze  a 
document  that  made  them  dance  to  a  very  different  tune. 

What  was  it  that  moved  them  to  say,  "We  will  'come  in' 
with  pleasure"?  Nothing  more  or  less  than  a  newly  signed 
contract  with  Patti  for  "a  series  of  eight  operatic  representa- 
tions in  Italian,  or,  failing  these,  high-class  concerts,  to  be 
given  under  his  direction  from  the  16th  of  June  to  the  16th 
of  July,"  at  a  fee  of  £500  a  representation  or  concert.  There 
it  was  in  black  and  white ;  there  could  be  no  mistake  about 
it.  It  meant  at  least  five  weeks  of  opera  at  Covent  Garden 
with  the  diva  at  the  head  of  the  company. 

Yet  they  could  scarcely  believe  their  eyes.  For  had  not 
the  liveliest  stories  come  from  New  York  of  quarrels  and  liti- 
gation between  Nicolini  and  Mapleson,  of  cachets  unpaid  and 
general  disagreement?  All  of  these  the  Colonel  now  dis- 
missed as  groundless  and  absurd.  "Otherwise,"  said  he, 
"how  could  I  have  been  down  to  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  and  re- 
ceived there  as  an  honored  guest,  or  have  persuaded  Mme. 
Patti  to  sign  her  first  London  engagement  with  me?"1     If 

i  This  was  literally  true.  Colonel  Mapleson  always  declared  that,  so 
far  as  Europe  was  concerned,  he  was  the  man  who  "discovered"  Patti. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  their  American  relations  notwithstanding,  she  had 


220  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

obstacles  had  really  stood  in  the  way,  the  astute  impresario 
had  unquestionably  overcome  them,  and  that  was  enough  for 
the  libraries. 

Within  twenty- four  hours  the  projected  season  was  made 
known  to  the  public  in  a  brief  announcement,  which  stated 
that  Covent  Garden  would  reopen  on  June  16,  and  that  Mine. 
Patti  would  appear  on  the  inaugural  night.  Mapleson  then 
set  to  work  to  collect  and  reinforce  his  company,  the  ma- 
jority of  whom  had  remained  in  London  after  their  return 
from  New  York  in  the  middle  of  May.  lie  also  conveyed  to 
the  press  a  sly  hint  that  the  principal  novelty  of  the  season 
would  be  "Mme.  Patti  in  a  new  character."  What  that  char- 
acter was  to  be  he  did  not  reveal  until  a  few  days  later;  then 

sung  in  London  twenty-four  years  before  she  entered  into  a  contract  to 
sing  there,  either  in  opera  or  concert,  under  his  management.  He  was 
particularly  proud  of  this  contract —  so  proud  that  he  printed  it  in  his 
'".Memoirs,"  and  there  made  it  the  text  for  a  lengthy  sermon  upon  the 
unfair,  tyrannical  conditions  imposed  upon  operatic  managers  by  dis- 
tinguished prima  donnas.  Years  afterwards,  by  a  curious  chance,  the 
original  document,  bearing  the  simple  signature  "Adelina  Pa.tti,"  came 
into  the  possession  of  the  author  of  this  book. 

It  certainly  contained  some  clauses — concocted,  doubtless,  by  MM. 
Nicolini  and  Levilly — which  had  never  figured  in  her  contracts  with  Mr. 
Gye  or  even  with  her  French  and  Russian  managers.  For  instance,  one 
stipulated  that  the  diva's  name  should  appear  on  all  posters  "in  c  sep- 
arate line  of  large  letters  .  .  .  at  least  one  third  larger  than  those 
employed  for  the  announcement  of  any  other  artiste."  Another  pro- 
vided that  "mi  the  event  of  an  epidemic  of  cholera,,  smallpox,  fever,  or 
other  contagious  deadly  disease,  Mme.  Patti  shall  be  at  liberty  to 
cancel  this  engagement."  Then  there  was  the  clause  about  rehearsals, 
to  which  allusion  has  already  been  made.  To  this  and  to  the  one  re- 
lating to  the  si/e  of  the  letters  Mapleson  had  been  accustomed  in  Amer- 
ica ;  for  he  tells  a  story  in  his  '"Memoirs"  of  how  during  the  Chicago 
Festival  he  "saw  Signor  Xicolini,  armed  with  what  appeared  to  be  a 
theodolite,  looking  intently  and  with  a  scientific  air  at  some  wall  pos- 
ters on  which  the  letters  composing  Mme.  Patti's  name  seemed  to  him 
no!  quite  one  third  larger"  than  those  of  some  other  "artiste."  To 
make  sure,  however,  "he  procured  a  ladder,  and.  boldly  mounting  the 
steps,  ascertained  by  means  of  a  foot-rule"  that  his  eyes  and  the  theodo- 
lite had  not  deceived  him.  Naturally,  a  vigorous  protest  was  the  re- 
sult, and  the  discrepancy  was  duly  corrected. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  221 

he  gave  what  proved  to  be  a  rather  surprising  piece  of  infor- 
mation, namely,  that  the  diva  intended  to  sing,  for  the  first 
time,  the  part  of  Carmen! 

But  alas  for  the  vanity  of  human  hopes  and  anticipations ! 
She  caught  a  couple  of  colds  in  quick  succession  that  upset 
all  Mapleson's  arrangements,  the  first  compelling  him  to  post- 
pone his  opening  for  nearly  a  week.1  Then  her  essay  as  Car- 
men was  to  culminate  in  the  one  decisive  disappointment  of 
her  career:  an  artistic  failure!  But,  before  dealing  there- 
with, the  writer  craves  leave  to  make  a  short  digression  for 
the  purpose  of  recording  his  first  interview  with  Mme.  Patti, 
which  occurred  upon  the  day  preceding  her  debut  in  Bizet's 
opera. 

By  the  summer  of  1885  thirteen  years  had  passed  since, 
as  a  youth,  I  first  heard  Patti.  During  the  latter  half  of  that 
period  I  had  been  slowly  climbing  the  ladder  as  musical 
critic  of  the  Sunday  Times  and  other  papers.  I  had  long 
cherished  a  desire  to  know  the  most  celebrated  singer  of  our 
time,  but  somehow — the  fact  is  not  altogether  easy  to  explain 
— I  had  never  sought  to  gratify  my  wish,  even  when  it  would 
have  been  comparatively  easy  to  do  so. 

My  reticence  had  nothing  in  common,  most  assuredly,  with 

1  In  his  "Memoirs"  Mapleson  rather  unjustly  blames  Nicolini  for  this 
catastrophe,  which  he  declares  cost  him  a  thousand  pounds.  He  at- 
tributes it  to  the  husband's  parsimony  in  not  bringing  his  wife  to 
London  until  the  day  before,  in  order  to  save  hotel  expenses,  "or  from 
some  uncontrollable  desire  to  catch  an  extra  salmon."  Why  she  should 
have  caught  cold  driving  to  the  station  on  that  account  is  not  alto- 
gether clear,  particularly  when  we  remember  that  it  was  the  month  of 
June  and  that  Mme.  Patti  was  accustomed  to  driving  in  the  Welsh 
mountains  every  day  in  all  winds  and  weathers.  Besides,  it  was  her 
general  custom,  when  she  had  to  go  direct  from  home  to  sing  in  Lon- 
don, not  to  leave  until  the  day  before.  The  impresario's  loss  of  temper 
is,  however,  easy  tp  understand ;  and  it  was  doubtless  accentuated  by 
the  second  cold,  which  she  caught  in  London  after  the  season  had 
started. 


222  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

narrow  views  regarding  the  relations — and  intervening  dis- 
fcances — that  should  be  preserved  between  artist  and  critic. 
(I  have  never  shared  those  views,  never  having  felt  t hat- 
friendship  ought  to  interfere  with  the  candid  expression  of 
one's  professional  opinion.  Musicians  are  proverbially  su- 
persensitive; but  if  they  cannot  suffer  honest  adverse  criti- 
cism, so  much  the  worse  for  them.)  Still  less  will  it  be 
imagined  that  such  considerations  could  arise  in  the  case  of 
this  illustrious  exponent  of  her  art,  whose  efforts,  ninety-nine 
limes  out  of  a  hundred,  were  entirely  beyond  criticism. 

The  true  reason,  I  think,  was  a  purely  sentimental  one,  hav- 
ing its  root  in  the  intensity  of  the  admiration — profound,  un- 
qualified, sincere — that  I  had  always  felt  for  Mme.  Patti. 
She  represented  to  my  mind  the  perfect  ideal  of  what  a 
singer  should  be.  The  world  had  placed  her  upon  a  lofty 
pedestal  apart  from  all  others,  and  was  content  to  worship 
its  goddess  from  afar.  Ought  not  T  to  do  likewise?  I  had 
asked  myself  the  question  again  and  again;  and  so  far  I  had 
resisted  the  temptation  to  answer  it  other  than  in  the  affirma- 
tive. 

But  one  day — it  must  have  been  towards  the  end  of  May, 
1885 — a  brother  journalist,  who  was  one  of  her  intimate 
friends,  surprised  me  by  telling  me  point-blank  thai  the  first 
time  Mme.  Patti  came  to  London  again  he  meant  to  intro- 
duce me  to  her.  T  asked  what  had  made  him  think  of  doing 
so. 

"Simply,"  he  answered,  "because  Mme.  Patti,  when  your 
name  was  mentioned  a  short  time  ago,  expressed  a  wish  to 
know  you;  and  a  wish  from  that  quarter,  like  one  from 
royalty,  is  equal  to  a  command." 

I  acknowledged  it  might  be  so,  and  did  not  disguise  the  fact 
that  I  was  delighted.  At  the  same  time,  I  explained  as  well 
as  I  could  the  peculiar  hesitancy,  the  almost  shy  feeling,  that 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  223 

had  deterred  me  from  seeking  to  make  the  personal  acquaint- 
ance of  the  great  artist. 

"You  need  not  hesitate,"  was  my  friend's  reply.  "She 
is  very  wonderful  in  that  respect.  Like  the  Queen  of  Eng- 
land, she  makes  you  feel  perfectly  at  your  ease  in  her  pres- 
ence, without  losing  an  iota  of  her  sense  of  dignity.  Yet, 
such  is  her  charm,  her  natural  simplicity,  her  magnetic  power, 
above  all,  her  sustained  vivacity  and  spirit,  that  you  never 
for  a  moment  cease  to  realize  that  the  Patti  of  the  drawing- 
room  is  the  Patti  of  the  stage — and  of  your  dreams  ! ' ' 

A  few  days  later  I  was  to  judge  for  myself  how  true  this 
was. 

In  spite  of  the  postponement,  Mr.  Mapleson's  season  opened 
brilliantly  enough  with  "La  Traviata,"  and  Mme.  Patti  had 
shaken  off  the  effects  of  her  cold  sufficiently  to  do  herself  full 
justice  in  what  was  at  this  time  her  favorite  role.  She  was- 
to  have  sung  Lucia  next,  but  had  unluckily  to  disappoint  her 
audience  at  the  last  moment,  owing  to  an  attack  of  "hay 
fever."  *  It  was  too  late  to  change  the  opera,  and  the  part 
of  the  heroine  was  sung  by  a  Swedish  debutante,  Mile.  Alma 
Fohstrom,  who  made  a  favorable  impression  and  afterward 
achieved  some  popularity.  A  day  or  two  after,  I  accom- 
panied my  journalistic  friend  to  the  Midland  Grand  Hotel, 
by  appointment,  to  pay  Mme.  Patti  and  Signor  Nicolini  an 
afternoon  visit. 

When  we  were  ushered  into  the  large,  lofty  apartment  that 
they  used  as  a  salon  with  its  gaunt  Gothic  windows  facing  the 

i  Mapleson,  by  the  way,  has  not  made  Nicolini  responsible  for  this 
second  indisposition.  Probably  he  could  not  find  a  colorable  excuse  for 
doing  so.  And  yet,  no  one  knew  better  than  the  Colonel  that  Nicolini 
(despite  his  selfishness  and  his  passion  for  angling)  was  more  inter- 
ested than  any  one  else  to  keep  Mme.  Patti  well  and  in  fit  condition  to 
fulfil  her  engagements. 


» 

l"J4  THE  REIGN  OF  PATT1 

Euston  Road  (they  never,  I  think,  stayed  there  except  during 
this  one  season),  Mine.  Patti  came  forward  and  greeted  us  with 
much  cordiality.  1  had  already  met  Xieolini,  and  it  was  he 
who  formally  presented  me  to  the  famous  "little  lady."  Her 
bright  smile  and  gracious  manner  instantly  put  me  at  my 
ease.  She  bade  me  sit  beside  her,  and  began  to  talk — in  those 
deep,  rich  contralto  tones  that  always  belied  so  curiously 
the  brighter  timbre  of  her  singing  voice. 

She  looked  astonishingly  young.  Though  in  her  forty-third 
year,  she  did  not  appear  to  be  a  day  more  than  thirty,  and 
her  movements  seemed  still  to  retain  the  impulse  and  freedom 
of  girlhood.  The  merry  laugh,  the  rapid  turn  of  the  head, 
the  mischievous  twinkle  in  the  keen  dark  eyes  when  she  said 
something  humorous,  were  as  natural  to  her  as  that  rapid, 
forward  (Ian  when  she  extended  her  hand  to  Alfredo  in  the 
supper  scene  of  "Traviata."  I  could  now  see  that  my  col- 
league had  spoken  truly.  The  Patti  of  the  stage  and  the 
Patti  of  real  life  were,  in  outward  semblance  and  deportment, 
one  and  the  same.  It  followed,  therefore,  that  the  woman 
was  as  unaffected,  as  fascinating,  as  the  artist. 

She  began : 

"I  must  tell  you  that  I  rarely  look  at  a  newspaper,  and 
I  read  very  few  notices  of  the  opera.  But  I  generally  know 
what  is  written  about  me,  and  by  whom.  Some  of  the  things 
you  have  said  have  given  me  a  great  deal  of  pleasure.  I 
thought  you  were  much  older,  though ;  how  long  have  you 
been  a  critic?"  I  told  her  seven  or  eight  years,  but  that  I 
had  heard  her  long  before  I  began  to  write.  Her  gay  laugh 
echoed  through  the  room. 

"What,  a  critic  in  your  school  da}rs?  Then  I  must  have 
formed  part  of  your  musical  education.  Well,  at  least  you 
can  say  that  you  started  off  with  the  old  Italian  school. 
There  is  none  like  it."     Which  remark  led  me  to  mention  that 


AT    CRAIG-Y-NOS 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  225 

I  had  studied  some  time  under  Manuel  Garcia.  On  hearing 
his  name  she  evinced  the  liveliest  interest. 

"He  must  be  a  wonderful  teacher.  I  am  sorry  to  say  I 
have  never  met  him.  Mais,"— turning  to  Nicolini— "figure- 
ioi,  Ernest,  le  maitre  de  Jenny  Lind  est  encore  vivant! 
And  still  teaching  in  London,  c'est  merveilleux!"  Then,  ad- 
dressing me  again  :     "Do  you  think  he  ever  heard  me?" 

"I  know  he  has  heard  you,"  was  my  reply.  "I  remember 
his  saying  once  that  he  admired  your  Rosina  immensely.  In 
fact,  he  declared  that  yours  was  the  only  one  he  had  cared 
for  since  his  own  sister,  Malibran,  whose  great  part  it  was. 

"He  said  that?  Mais  comme  c'est  gentil,  n'est  ce  pas, 
Ernest?  Do  you  know,  Rossini  himself  once  said  the  same 
thing  to  me.  Therefore  it  must  be  true."  And  she  laughed 
again.  "But,  seriously,  I  shall  enjoy  singing  the  'Barbiere' 
more  than  ever  now,  and  it  is  one  of  the  parts  I  love  most. 
Which  is  my  actual  favorite?  To  be  frank  with  you,  I  don't 
know.  I  am  so  often  asked  the  question  that  I  generally  an- 
swer one  or  the  other, — Rosina,  Zerlina,  Violetta, — as  I  feel 
at  the  moment.  But  in  reality  I  cannot  make  a  definite 
choice.  I  love  each  of  my  characters  in  turn  as  I  sing  it." 
Then,  after  a  pause,  she  added:  "And  maybe  I  shall  like 
my  next  one  best." 

As  she  spoke  she  turned  to  a  corner  of  the  room  where, 
hanging  on  a  chair,  there  lay  a  dainty  Spanish  skirt  of  yellow 
satin,  with  a  crimson  shawl  flung  carelessly  across  it. 

"Carmen!"  I  murmured. 

An  eager,  sparkling  glance  shot  from  her  eyes  as  she  echoed 
the  name. 

"Yes,  Carmen!  I  have  been  longing  to  sing  it  for  years, 
and  I  am  going  to  do  so  at  last.  I  adore  the  opera.  Ah,  poor 
Bizet,  how  I  wish  he  were  still  alive  to  hear  me !  I  love  the 
story,  I  love  the  music,  I  love  the  Spanish  scenes  and  types; 


226  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

enfin,  j'aime  tout  ce  qui  est  Carmen!  You  will  see  me  dance; 
you  will  hear  how  I  play  the  castanets.  I  have  never  longed 
so  impatiently  for  anything  in  my  life." 

"Mais,  ma  mignonne,  tu  paries  trop  fort  et  tu  causes  trop. 
II  fault  soigner  un  peu  ta  voix,  n'est-ce  pas?"  It  was  the 
watchful  Nicolini  who  interrupted, — ever  on  the  lookout  to 
check  such  moments  of  girlish  excitement  and  self-forgetful- 
ness.  It  was  true  that  her  voice  had  gradually  increased  to  a 
forte. 

"Hon  cher,  tu  as  raison."  And  she  rose.  It  was  the  sig- 
nal for  us  to  depart.  "We  shall  hope  to  see  you  before  we 
return  to  Craig-y-Nos.  You  must  visit  us  there  sometime. 
Je  suis  enchant  ce  d' avoir  fait  voire  connaissance,  et  je<  lirai 
votre  article  sur  'Carmen.'    Au  revoir!" 

She  held  out  her  hand  with  a  regal  gesture  that  seemed 
quite  natural,  nay,  inborn ;  and,  just  as  naturally,  albeit  the 
custom  was  not  English,  I  took  the  hand  and  kissed  it.  Then 
Nicolini,  en  grand  seigneur,  came  to  the  door  and  bowed  us 
out. 

"You  see,"  said  my  friend  as  we  walked  downstairs,  "she 
is  expecting  a  great  triumph  as  Carmen."  And  he  added, 
sotto  voce,  "I  wonder!"  A  few  hours  later  neither  of  us 
wondered.  I  only  know  that  I  paid  no  more  visits  to  Mme. 
Patti  that  season,  nor  did  I  converse  with  her  again  until  two 
years  later,  when  she  was  in  a  box  one  night  at  Drury  Lane, 
during  Sir  Augustus  Harris 's  first  Italian  season. 

The  character  of  Carmen  belongs  wholly  neither  to  comedy 
nor  to  tragedy.  As  far  as  the  stage  is  concerned,  she  is  of 
the  realistic  type  that  one  finds  only  in  sheer  melodrama.  A 
creature  of  every-day  Spanish  life,  she  requires,  as  drawn 
by  the  master  hand  of  Prosper  Merimee,  those  graphic  touches 
of  realism  that  reveal  the  true  woman  of  the  people,  passion- 
ate in  her  ardor,  crude  in  her  coquetry,  unblushing  in  her 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  227 

sensualism,  merciless  in  her  infidelities,  reckless  in  her  de- 
fiance of  fatalistic  warnings  and  physical  danger.  These 
were  traits  readily  depicted  by  a  Galli-Marie,  a  Pauline  Lucca, 
a  Minnie  Hauk,  and  later  on  by  a  Calve  or  a  Zelie  de  Lussan. 
But  they  made  no  sort  of  appeal  to  an  artist  with  the  tem- 
perament of  Adelina  Patti,  who  had  been  reared  in  opera  of 
the  classical  schools.  Her  personality  could  express  a  viva- 
cious nature  with  distinction  and  grace,  but  was  never  fitted 
for  the  embodiment  of  a  commonplace  woman  of  the  people. 

In  a  word,  her  Carmen  proved  to  be  clever  but  colorless. 
It  was  a  skilful  tour  de  force,  nothing  more.  That  she  should 
have  even  got  through  her  task  with  credit  showed  clearly 
what  an  advance  she  had  made  in  the  technique  of  the  ac- 
tress's art.  Her  rare  gift  of  ''pantomime,"  soon  to  develop 
to  remarkable  heights,  stood  her  in  good  stead;  but  nothing 
could  metamorphose  the  grande  cantatrice  into  a  Carmen. 
To  the  regret  of  an  assemblage  of  her  admirers  that  filled 
Covent  Garden  from  floor  to  ceiling,  the  representation  fell 
painfully  flat. 

The  charm  of  the  incomparable  voice  and  much  beautiful 
singing  could  not  ward  off  this  penalty,  for  the  simple  reason 
that  most  of  the  music  lay  too  low  for  her.  A  pure  soprano 
is  very  seldom  heard  to  advantage  in  a  part  that  has  been 
written  for  a  mezzo-soprano ;  and  in  1885  Mme.  Patti  had  not 
developed  her  lower  medium  and  chest  tones  to  the  degree  of 
fulness  that  became  noticeable  in  later  years.  She  elected  to 
raise  the  tessitura  of  Carmen's  music  by  making  numerous 
changes  and  introducing  "ornaments"  which  were  out  of 
keeping  with  the  design  of  the  composer.  This  naturally 
aroused  adverse  criticism ;  indeed,  the  press  notices  as  a  whole 
were  frankly  unfavorable.1  The  performance  at  Covent  Gar- 
den was  repeated  once,  but  that  was  all. 

i  See  Appendix  V. 


228  THE  REIGN  OF  PATT1 

Joseph  Bennett,  reverting  to  Mme.  Patti's  Carmen  twenty- 
one  years  later  (on  the  occasion  of  her  final  "farewell"  at  the 
Albert  Hall),  remarked  in  the  Daily  Telegraph  that  the  Span- 
ish gipsy  was 

A  character  part  demanding  a  temperament  not  hers,  and  one, 
moreover,  which  demanded  an  actress  rather  than  a  singer.  It  is 
likely  that  the  artist  had  some  doubts  as  to  the  result  of  this  ven- 
ture, but  it  was  necessary  for  her  to  take  it  up  in  order  to  share 
in  the  applause  which  the  public  were  eager  to  bestow  upon  every 
representative  of  a  character  in  part  repellent,  yet  altogether  fasci- 
nating. In  her  embodiment  of  the  heroine  Mme.  Patti,  with  singular 
good  judgment,  elected  to  rely  more  upon  the  fatalism  in  the  gipsy's 
nature  than  upon  more  demonstrative  traits.  I  remember  being 
struck  with  the  intensity  of  the  impression  she  made  in  the  card 
scene  and  in  the  final  situation.  So  far,  good;  but  Mme.  Patti's 
Carmen,  with  all  its  merits,  failed  to  hold  the  public  securely,  and 
the  artist  did  not  persevere. 

This  was,  on  the  whole,  a  just  criticism,  though  I  do  not 
agree  that  it  was  "necessary"  for  the  artist  to  attempt  a  part 
that  did  not  suit  her,  least  of  all  for  the  sake  of  applause— 
a  stimulus  whereof,  throughout  her  life,  she  was  vouchsafed 
a  superabundance. 

By  the  way,  the  supporting  cast  of  "Carmen"  in  this  in- 
stance included  Signor  del  Puente  as  the  Toreador,  M.  Engel 
as  Don  Jose,  and  Mme.  Dotti  as  Micaela. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  neither  Mapleson  in  his  "Memoirs" 
nor  Arditi  in  his  "Reminiscences"  (the  popular  "Luigi" 
was  the  conductor  of  this  odd  season)  makes  the  smallest  allu- 
sion to  Patti's  Carmen.  Yet  both  of  them  call  attention  to 
her  frequent  disappointment  of  the  public  in  consequence  of 
indisposition;  and  both  give  picturesque  accounts  of  the  cele- 
bration, held  on  the  last  night  of  the  season,  in  honor  of  her 
twenty-fifth  annual  engagement  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  229 

The  omission  might  perhaps  be  susceptible  of  explanation — 
if  explanation  were  needed. 

The  celebration  just  referred  to  was,  on  the  whole,  a  more 
successful  function  than  that  "engineered"  by  the  same  im- 
presario in  New  York  a  few  months  earlier.  It  wound  up 
with  the  now  customary  torchlight  procession,  upon  which 
the  Colonel  appeared  to  set  such  store ;  but  here  it  aroused  a 
much  more  spontaneous  response  from  the  public.  It  also 
began  with  far  more  dignified  proceedings  in  the  interior  of 
the  opera  house.1  The  latter  included  the  presentation  to 
Mine.  Patti  of  an  address  of  congratulation  and  the  gift  of  a 
diamond  bracelet  subscribed  for  by  a  large  and  representa- 
tive "Testimonial  Committee."  This  ceremony  took  place 
after  the  termination  of  a  performance  of  "II  Trovatore," 
which  was  distinguished  by  the  most  magnificent  rendering 
of  the  part  of  Leonora  that  I  can  recall  among  my  personal 
memories  of  this  supreme  artist. 

Patti  was  still  to  appear  at  Covent  Garden  a  few  times 
more,  though  at  intervals  only.  Her  career  as  a  concert 
artist  was  to  be  prolonged  for  another  twenty  years.  But 
this  particular  night  was  practically  the  last  in  the  history  of 
her  unbroken  quarter  of  a  century's  work — unique,  brilliant, 
amazing  in  every  sense — as  the  unchallenged  and  unapproach- 
able star  of  London's  leading  opera  house.  Few  could  have 
guessed  that  it  marked  the  close  of  a  great  era  in  the  story 
of  opera  in  Great  Britain.  Still  fewer  could  have  foretold 
the  interregnum  and  the  renascence  that  were  shortly  to  occur 
in  turn.  Be  it  said,  however,  that,  as  far  as  Adelina  Patti 
was  concerned,  "the  finish  crowned  the  work." 

She  now  took  a  well-earned  holiday.  For  several  months 
she  did  not  leave  her  charming  Welsh  retreat,  and  all  en- 
deavors to  persuade  her  to  undertake  another  American  tour 
proved,   for  the  time  being,   fruitless.     She  had  lost   confi- 

i  Se»  Appendix  W. 


230  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

dence  in  Mapleson  as  a  transatlantic  manager;  and  it  was 
perhaps  fortunate  that  she  had,  since  his  season  at  the  New 
York  Academy  of  Music  in  the  winter  of  1885-86  turned  out 
the  most  disastrous  of  the  series,  and  the  tour  terminated 
with  a  declaration  of  bankruptcy.  Mapleson  never  took  an 
opera  company  to  America  again. 

.More  than  a  year  slipped  by.  Early  in  the  summer  of  1886 
occurred  the  wedding  functions  in  South  Wales,  already 
briefly  recorded  at  the  close  of  a  previous  chapter.  Many 
guests  were  invited  to  make  a  stay  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle, 
which  had  undergone  considerable  alteration  and  enlarge- 
ment, though  not  to  the  extent  that  was  to  culminate  five 
years  later  in  the  addition  of  a  new  wing  and  a  private 
theatre.  Of  that  there  will  be  more  to  say  anon.  In  the 
meanwhile  the  tranquillity  and  restfulness  of  these  early  days 
at  Craig-y-Nos  were  thoroughly  appreciated  by  the  hard- 
working prima  donna,  who  now  probably  knew  the  joys  of  the 
dolce  far  niente,  coupled  with  true  marital  happiness,  for  the 
first  time  in  her  busy  lifetime. 

Originally  the  mansion  facing  the  "Rock  of  the  Night"  on 
the  road  from  Brecon  to  Ystradgynlais  had  afforded  some- 
what limited  accommodation.  Beautifully  situated  half-way 
down  the  broad  northern  slope  of  the  Swansea  Valley,  its  am- 
ple grounds  extending  for  several  acres  along  the  banks  of 
a  swift  trout  stream,  it  constituted  a  delightful  home  for  a 
small  family  in  search  of  railroad  inaccessibility  and  seclu- 
sion from  the  world.  It  had  been  purchased  on  the  advice 
of  Sir  Hussey  Vivian,  M.P.  (afterward  Lord  Swansea)  and 
his  brother,  Mr.  Graham  Vivian,  with  whom  Mine.  Patti  and 
Signor  Nicolini  stayed  when  they  originally  visited  the  neigh- 
borhood.1    The  fishing  was  not  its  smallest  attraction  in  the 


*& 


i  They  also  resided  for  a  slant  time  at  VVaterton  Hall,  near  Bridgend, 
arid  at  Cadoxton  Hall,  Neath,  the  old  home  of  Mrs.  Henry  M.  Stanley. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  231 

eyes  of  the  genial  tenor :  he  could  throw  a  "  fly "  with  toler- 
able skill. 

For  a  while  the  castle  served  its  purpose  well  enough.  But 
Mme.  Patti  liked  to  have  her  friends  around  her,  and,  find- 
ing that  there  was  not  sufficient  space  to  entertain  a  goodly 
number  of  them,  she  caused  some  important  additions  to  be 
made  to  the  main  structure.  From  first  to  last  her  Craig-y- 
Nos  improvements  were  said  to  have  cost  her  nearly  £100,000. 
Nicolini  being  an  ardent  devotee  of  French  or  American  bil- 
liards, a  new  billiard-room  and  a  spacious  drawing-room,  with 
several  bedrooms  above,  were  added  at  one  end.  At  the  other 
was  erected  a  huge  conservatory,  flanked  in  turn  by  a  lofty 
winter  garden  containing  some  splendid  palms  and  exotics. 
In  this  winter  garden  the  hostess  was  wont  in  bad  weather 
to  take  her  midday  stroll  just  before  dejeuner,  stopping  now 
and  then  to  converse  with  her  favorite  cockatoo,  an  enormous 
bird  that  was  pleasanter  to  look  upon  than  listen  to. 

Two  novel  features  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  at  this  period 
may  here  be  mentioned.  One  was  an  installation  of  the  elec- 
tric light  that  was  said  to  be  among  the  first  to  be  put  up 
in  a  country  house  in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  other  item 
was  a  large  orchestrion,  made  at  Fribourg,  in  Switzerland,  the 
musical  resources  of  which  were  equally  new  to  dwellers  in  an 
English  (or  Welsh)  home.  It  stood  in  the  billiard-room,  and 
was  worked  by  electricity.  It  had  a  rich  pipe-organ  tone, 
and  if  it  could  not  compare,  either  in  perfection  of  mechanism 
or  variety  of  tonal  combinations,  with  the  more  elaborate 
' '  orchestrelle "  of  a  later  day,  it  was  nevertheless  considered 
a  remarkable  instrument  of  its  kind,  and  Mme.  Patti  was 
immensely  proud  of  it.  Moreover,  while  it  was  being  played 
— generally  in  the  evening,  after  dinner — the  click  of  the 
billiard  balls  was  bidden  to  cease,  silence  being  requested  ex- 
It  was  during  their  stay  at  Cadoxton  Hall  that  they  heard  Craig-y-Noa 
Castle  was  for  sale. 


■2.V2  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

cept  for  the  lighter  pieces,  such  as  the  "Espafia"  of  th« 
gifted  P>ench  composer,  Chabrier  (Xicolini's  cousin,  by  the 
way),  when  the  hostess  would  call  for  her  castanets  and  ac- 
centuate the  rhythm  of  the  waltz  with  characteristic  dash 
and  energy.  Her  castanet-playing  was,  indeed,  exceptionally 
good. 

She  did  not  always  spare  her  throat  on  these  occasions. 
The  orchestrion  had  only  to  give  out  some  melody  that  she 
cared  for,  and  her  gorgeous  voice  would  instantly  be  ringing 
through  the  spacious  room,  blending  delieiously  with  the  full, 
deep  tone  of  the  organ  pipes.  Strange  and  lovely  did  the 
familiar  golden  notes  of  Patti  sound  under  such  conditions! 
But  it  was  always  something  good  that  "drew  her  out."  She 
was  not  very  fond  of  the  merely  tuneful  morceaux  or  the  worn- 
out  operatic  selections;  and  as  time  went  on  she  enjoyed  more 
and  more  listening  to  Wagner  and  certain  of  the  "advanced" 
composers  of  that  day. 

This,  then,  was  as  a  rule  the  nightly  scene  at  Craig-y-Nos 
during  the  early  years  of  the  Patti-Xicolini  period.  Later  on, 
after  the  theatre  had  been  built,  I  was  to  have  the  privilege 
of  joining  the  circle  and  witnessing  it  for  myself,  as  will 
be  seen  in  due  course.  But  the  picture  varied  little  either 
now  or  in  the  time  to  come.  When  dinner  was  over  there  was 
usually  an  informal  procession  from  the  conservatory  or  the 
dining-room, — the  former  in  summer,  the  latter  in  winter, — 
headed  by  the  "little  lady"  leaning  on  the  arm  of  her  prin- 
cipal male  guest. 

Always  en  grande  toilette  of  the  latest  Parisian  model;  al- 
ways wearing  some  wonderful  necklace,  with  bracelets,  rings, 
and  occasionally  a  dazzling  tiara,  chosen  from  her  priceless 
collection  of  jewels ;  seated  upon  one  of  the  comfortable  lounges 
that  skirted  three  sides  of  the  billiard-table,  she  was  invari- 
ably the  centre  of  a  bright,  animated  group,  a  veritable  queen 
in  the  midst  of  her  courtiers.     For  courtiers  they  were,  most 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  253 

of  them,  male  and  female,  ready  with  a  flattering  speech,  ever 
bidding  for  the  gracious  smile  that  each  endeavored  to  win  in 
turn.  There  they  would  drink  their  coffee  and  smoke  (Mme. 
Patti  did  not  object  to  the  "fragrant  weed,"  though  she  never 
indulged  in  it  herself),  while  talking  over  the  events  of  the 
day,  making  plans  for  the  morrow,  discussing  various  people, 
social  and  artistic,  or,  as  has  been  said,  listening  to  the  orches- 
trion. Gifted  with  an  abundance  of  ready  wit  and  lively 
repartee,  with  an  easy  command  of  at  least  five  languages,  the 
Queen  of  Song,  surrounded  by  her  court,  made  a  striking  and 
alluring  picture ;  nor  could  one  ever  forget  that  the  personality 
of  the  central  figure  was  that  of  Adelina  Patti. 

Among  the  wedding  guests  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  was  that 
able,  straightforward,  but  unlucky  American  manager,  Henry 
E.  Abbey.  Apparently  he  had  arisen,  phoenix-like,  from  the 
ashes  of  his  colossal  failure  at  the  New  York  Metropolitan, 
three  3rears  previously ;  at  any  rate,  he  was  here,  either  as 
principal  or  ambassador,  with  some  fresh  proposal  in  view. 
His  object,  of  course,  was  to  tempt  the  diva  away  from  her 
Arcadian  retirement.  And,  thanks  once  more  to  Nicolini's 
businesslike  disposition,  stimulated  by  enormous  terms,  he  did 
not  tempt  in  vain. 

"Farewell"  was  now  the  leitmotif  of  Mr.  Abbey's  artful 
serenade — farewell,  namely,  to  the  American  public,  with  a 
concert  tour  all  over  the  United  States  and  perhaps  a  few 
operatic  performances  in  New  York  to  wind  up  with.  On 
reflection  it  seemed  a  good  idea.  For  in  many  respects  it 
harmonized  with  the  singer's  views  concerning  the  nature  of 
the  work  that  would  be  most  congenial  to  her  during  the  re- 
mainder of  her  career. 

Italian  opera  in  England  had,  as  has  been  said,  gone  from 
bad  to  worse.  Its  plight  was  now  deplorable.  Covent  Gar- 
den only  opened  in  1886  for  another  brief  season  with  chiefly 


234  THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI 

moderate  artists,  under  the  management  of  Signor  Lago,  Mr. 
Gye's  former  rcgisscur.  The  glory  of  the  house  had  departed; 
nor  was  there  any  apparent  prospect  of  its  revival.  Mme. 
Patti  had  no  alternative  but  to  keep  aloof  from  such  second- 
rate  enterprises.  Not  even  her  immense  reputation  could  have 
rescued  the  old  institution  from  the  impending  debacle.  This 
might  mean,  therefore,  that  the  greatest  lyric  artist  of  her 
time,  while  still  in  full  possession  of  her  vocal  resources,  would 
be  allowed  no  further  chance  for  the  display  of  her  unrivalled 
gifts  upon  the  boards  of  a  London  opera  house. 

Such  were  the  main  considerations  which,  for  the  moment, 
at  any  rate,  turned  her  aside  from  the  branch  of  her  art  that 
she  most  loved,  and  with  which  she  was  most  closely  identified 
in  the  eyes  of  the  world.  It  was  not  without  regret  that  she 
followed  the  advice  of  her  practical  husband,  backed  up  by 
her  new  secretary,  Mr.  Morini.     There  was  no  help  for  it. 

She  might,  of  course,  have  retired  then  and  there,  had  she 
desired.  Her  savings,  carefully  guarded  and  advantageously 
invested  for  her  by  her  old  friend,  Mr.  Alfred  de  Rothschild, 
would  even  now  have  sufficed  to  keep  her  in  luxury  to  the  end 
of  her  days.  But  neither  Mme.  Patti  nor  Signor  Nicolini 
dreamed  of  taking  such  a  course.  Indeed,  both  had  begun  to 
chafe  under  their  life  of  enforced  idleness  when  the  festivities 
connected  with  the  wedding  had  brought  a  crowd  of  friends 
to  the  castle,  and  among  them  not  only  the  American  but  an 
English  concert  impresario.  It  was  the  latter  who  contrived 
to  get  in  a  successful  broadside  first.     We  shall  see  how. 

To  Mme.  Patti  the  British  Isles,  as  a  sphere  for  concert  en- 
terprise, offered  practically  virgin  soil.  It  might  furnish  a 
highly  profitable  substitute  for  the  temporarily  or — who  could 
say? — perhaps  permanently  barren  field  of  opera.  But  the 
responsibility  for  working  the  new  territory  would  have  to  be 
undertaken  by  some  one  with  capital  other  than  her  own.     She 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  235 

harbored  no  semblance  of  a  desire  to  renew  the  experience  of 
that  unlucky  tour  in  the  United  States  which  had  been  mis- 
managed by  Signor  Franchi  in  the  winter  of  1882.  Neither 
was  there  heard  from  her  side  so  much  as  a  whisper  of  "fare- 
well." That  word  was  left  solely  for  the  American  entre- 
preneur to  pronounce. 

Down  to  this  time  her  appearances  on  the  London  concert 
platform  had  been  few  and  far  between.  The  Floral  Hall 
concerts  at  Covent  Garden  of  the  early  Gye  days,  the  annual 
concerts  given  by  Sir  Julius  Benedict  and  Mr.  Kuhe,  and  her 
own  "grand  morning  concerts"  were  now  things  of  the  past.1 
But  in  June,  1882,  a  "miscellaneous"  concert  was  given  by  the 
artists  of  the  Royal  Italian  Opera  at  the  Royal  Albert  Hall. 
Among  them  were  Patti,  Albani,  Sembrich,  Nicolini,  Mier- 
zwinsky,  Cotogni,  and  Edouard  de  Reszke.  It  was  one  of  the 
first  experiments  of  the  kind  attempted  in  the  big  hall,  and  it 
drew  an  overflowing  audience,  the  diva  contributing  among 
other  solos  "I  know  that  my  Redeemer  liveth."  In  the  fol- 
lowing month  a  similar  undertaking  was  tried,  with  less  suc- 
cess; and  after  that  the  form  of  entertainment  does  not  seem 
to  have  been  persevered  with. 

Then,  in  1885,  Mr.  George  Watts,  a  Brighton  music-seller, 
engaged  Mme.  Patti  for  a  London  concert,  and  gave  it,  not  in 
the  Albert  Hall  (the  directors  for  some  reason  refusing  to  let 
it  to  him),  but  at  the  old  St.  James's  Hall,  which  was  easily 

1  She  sang  again  several  times  for  Mr.  Kuhe,  but  generally  at  his 
Brighton  concerts.  In  his  "Reminiscences"  he  mentions  her  singing 
there  the  entire  garden  scene  from  "Faust"  as  an  operatic  recital,  the 
success  of  which  "was  nothing  less  than  sensational."  He  reminds  us 
that  Adelina  Patti  sang  for  him  at  Brighton  in  1861,  the  year  of  her 
English  debut,  when  "the  expenses  of  the  concert  (including  the  sal- 
aries of  the  other  vocalists)  amounted  to  no  more  than  £150."  At  his 
first  Floral  Hall  concert  she  also  appeared  among  the  other  Covent  Gar- 
den stars,  the  arrangement  with  Mr.  Gye  being  that  he  paid  £400  and 
shared  with  him  all  receipts  over  and  above  that  sum.  Afterwards 
Patti  grew  more  expensive. 


236  THE  RE1GX  OF  PATTI 

filled  to  repletion.  By  an  unlucky  chance,  Mr.  Watts — a 
capable  and  enterprising  individual — caught  a  chill  and  died 
on  the  very  morning  of  the  concert ;  and  therewith  ended  his 
activities.  He  had,  however,  had  an  energetic  co-worker  in 
Mr.  Ambrose  Austin — well  known  as  the  manager  of  St. 
James's  Hall  and  organizer  of  the  annual  Scotch  and  Irish 
Ballad  Concerts — an  astute,  reliable  man,  thoroughly  trusted 
by  the  public.  Mr.  Austin  it  was  who  new  came  to  the  much- 
sought  prima  donna  with  a  proposal  for  four  concerts  at  the 
Albert  Hall,  to  be  given  in  June  and  July,  1886,  with  an  or- 
chestra under  Mr.  (afterwards  Sir)  W.  G.  Cusins,  the  con- 
ductor of  the  Philharmonic  Society.  Terms  were  agreed  upon, 
and  the  matter  was  arranged  without  delay. 

These  concerts  proved  a  tremendous  success ;  and  they  re- 
sulted in  a  huge  profit  for  Mr.  Austin.  He  had  the  good  sense 
to  surround  his  "leading  lady"  with  artists  of  the  first  rank. 
In  addition  to  Trebelli — still  a  beautiful  singer — there  were 
Edward  Lloyd,  Santley,  and  Foli,  three  of  the  finest  native 
vocalists.  Sims  Reeves  had  also  been  engaged  for  one  con- 
cert; but  the  grand  old  tenor,  now  close  on  seventy,  was  placed 
hors  de  combat  by  his  regular  summer  attack  of  hay  fever,  and 
Xieolini  sang  in  his  stead.  The  instrumentalists  were  also 
first-rate,  and  the  combination  of  talent  at  each  concert  was 
such  as  has  rarely  been  equalled  at  affairs  of  the  kind. 

Thus  was  inaugurated  the  famous  "Patti  Concerts,"  which 
for  a  couple  of  decades  longer  were  to  draw  the  public  in 
"tens  of  thousands"  to  the  gigantic  building  at  Kensington 
Gore.  They  served  their  purpose  well  enough.  They  afforded 
Londoners  practically  their  sole  opportunity  for  hearing  the 
phenomenal  singer  who  had  hitherto  cast  her  spell  over  two 
generations  of  opera-lovers.  It  may  be  admitted  that  the  per- 
sonal charm  of  the  artist  and  the  fascination  of  the  actress 
could  never  be  exercised  at  the  Albert  Hall  as  they  had  been 
at  Covent  Garden.     Still,  the  glorious  voix  d'or  was  irresist- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  237 

ible  even  in  that  vast  space.  The  carrying  power  of  her  soft- 
est mezza  voce  was  a  miracle  of  nature  and  art  combined  that 
never  failed  to  awaken  astonishment  in  the  listening  multi- 
tudes. 

This  wonderful  gift  of  Patti's  received  its  most  striking 
manifestation  in  the  inevitable  "Home,  sweet  home,"  which 
always  used  to  send  the  people  away  happy.  I  have  dwelt 
upon  it  already,  but  cannot  resist  speaking  of  it  again.  Rav- 
ishing in  its  grace,  unsurpassable  in  its  sweetness  and  ten- 
derness, her  singing  of  the  old  ballad  never  failed  to  create 
a  genuine  and  profound  emotion.  At  the  Albert  Hall  it  was 
an  experience  absolutely  unique.  Merely  to  watch  the  breath- 
less and  expectant  audience  with  heads  bent  forward,  hang- 
ing eagerly  upon  every  note  as  it  issued  like  a  pearl  from 
Patti's  lips,  was  ever  an  extraordinary  sight.  What  is  more, 
the  well-worn  ditty  helped,  perhaps  better  than  certain  of 
the  more  showy  operatic  nwrceaux,  to  compensate  for  what 
was  lacking  of  artistic  quality  in  the  material  of  these  com- 
posite entertainments. 

Besides  singing  at  the  new  Albert  Hall  concerts,  Mme. 
Patti  further  helped  to  relieve  the  dulness  of  a  singularly 
quiet  season  by  making  a  solitary  appearance  in  opera,  on  the 
afternoon  of  July  15,  for  the  benefit  of  Colonel  James  Henry 
Mapleson,  who,  sad  to  relate,  was  now  reduced  to  sore  pe- 
cuniary straits.  The  performance  took  place  at  the  Drury 
Lane  Theatre — lent  for  the  occasion  by  Augustus  Harris — 
and  it  drew  an  overflowing  audience,  at  augmented  prices, 
netting  a  goodly  sum  for  the  beneficiary.  The  opera  was  "II 
Barbiere,"  and,  as  it  happened,  London  in  the  summer  of 
1886  was  full  of  Colonial  visitors,  ready  to  pay  any  price  for 
the  privilege  of  hearing  Patti  in  her  renowned  assumption  of 
Rosina.  Happily,  she  was  not  only  in  good  voice,  but  well 
supported  by  Nicolini  as  Almaviva  and  Del  Puente  as  Figaro, 
with  Arditi  as  conductor. 


238  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

We  have  kept  Mr.  Abbey  waiting  some  time  for  the  reply 
to  his  tempting  proposition.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  he  obtained 
his  contract  very  soon  after  Mr.  Austin  got  his;  for  the  two 
ventures  did  not  clash,  the  American  tour  being  projected 
for  the  following  winter  and  spring  of  1886-87.  The  rea- 
sons why  the  latter  appealed  to  Mme.  Patti  have  already  been 
made  clear;  and,  apart  from  the  lure  of  Mr.  Abbey's  mu- 
nificent terms, — $5,000  for  each  appearance,  or  a  total  of 
$250,000  (£50,000)  with  a  guaranteed  minimum  of  fifty  per- 
formances,— there  can  be  no  doubt  that  she  was  genuinely 
desirous  of  bidding  what  she  then  regarded  as  a  definite  fare- 
well to  the  warm-hearted  public  that  had  witnessed  her  earliest 
successes  in  the  opera  house  and  the  concert  room. 

In  the  light  of  what  subsequently  happened,  it  is  well  to 
lay  stress  upon  the  artist 's  honesty  of  intention  in  this  matter 
of  American  "farewells."  For  other  good-bye  visits  were  to 
follow  after  the  one  now  referred  to — the  actual  final  "fare- 
well" not,  indeed,  until  seventeen  years  later.  It  will  be  re- 
membered that  the  ball  was  originally  set  rolling  by  Mr.  Ma- 
pleson.  He  did  so  entirely  on  his  own  responsibility.  Never- 
theless, the  present  Abbey  tour  was  generally  described  in 
the  United  States  as  "Farewell  No.  2";  so  that,  when  further 
repetitions  occurred,  it  became  increasingly  difficult  for  the 
sceptical  American  journalist  ("from  Missouri,"  let  us  say) 
to  believe  that  the  whole  thing  was  not  in  the  nature  of  a 
business  dodge  akin  to  the  oft-repeated  "compulsory  sale" 
of  jewelry  or  furniture — i.e.,  to  make  money  by  deceiving  the 
public. 

Whatever  her  managers  may  have  done,  Mme.  Patti  was 
unquestionably  above  trickery  of  this  sort.  It  may  be  argued 
that,  having  once  bidden  adieu  to  America,  she  ought  never  to 
have  gone  there  again ;  but  to  do  so  is  to  ignore  the  view- 
point of  the  American  public,  which  learned  from  Europe 
year  after  year  that  its  old  favorite  was  singing  as  well  as 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  239 

ever.  Was  she  to  refuse  them  the  opportunity  of  hearing  her 
once  more  because  it  had  been  announced — as  she  no  doubt 
thought  at  the  time — that  the  previous  visit  would  be  her 
last?  It  may  have  been  an  erroneous  supposition.  It  may 
even  have  been  a  profitable  mistake.  But  it  was  not  a  mere 
excuse,  a  discreditable  device  for  squeezing  dollars  out  of 
American  pockets,  as  one  or  two  influential  writers  (who  ought 
to  have  known  better)  thought  fit  to  assert. 

Moreover,  it  is  only  fair  to  add,  in  extenuation,  that  the 
"farewells"  of  great  singers  have  often  been  renewed,  not 
once,  but  again  and  yet  again,  and  have  been  extended  over 
lengthy  periods,  to  the  entire  satisfaction  alike  of  old  and 
new  generations  of  admirers.  For,  as  long  as  the  voice  re- 
mains young,  the  age  of  the  artist  is  immaterial.  And,  in  the 
case  of  a  singer  whose  organ  remained  so  wonderfully  pre- 
served as  that  of  Adelina  Patti,  there  was  abundant  justifica- 
tion for  prolonging  her  adieux  until  late  in  life. 

In  1886-87  she  was  so  completely  in  possession  of  her  full- 
est powers  that  many  of  her  transatlantic  critics  refused,  and 
wisely,  to  contemplate  the  possibility  of  her  never  coming 
back.  On  the  whole,  the  tour  was  an  unprecedented  success. 
The  receipts  "on  the  road"  touched  unparalleled  figures,  and 
Mr.  Abbey  must  have  done  well  by  his  enterprise.  Yet  at  the 
outset  New  York  was  characteristically  coy.  It  had  never,  as 
we  know,  cared  to  hear  the  diva  in  aught  save  opera.  A  mis- 
cellaneous concert  programme,  ending  with  an  act  from  ' '  Mar- 
tha" or  "Semiramide, "  did  well  enough  in  the  provinces; 
but  four  concerts,  consisting  of  this  sort  of  pot  pourri,  start- 
ing the  tour  at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  the  month  of  No- 
vember, met  with  that  cool  indifference  which  New  York, 
better  than  any  city  in  the  world,  knows  how  to  display  to- 
wards the  star  who  does  not  give  it  what  it  wants. 

On  her  return  from  the  Western  States  in  the  following 


240  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

April,  there  was  another  story  to  tell.  Abbe}-,  now  pos- 
ted of  the  requisite  capital,  as  well  as  the  courage,  took 
the  Metropolitan  Opera  House,  and  announced  Mme.  Patti 
in  six  "farewell"  representations,  with  the  artistic  support 
of  excellent  singers  like  Scalchi,  Galassi,  Del  Puente,  Abram- 
off,  and  Xovara,  the  indispensable  Arditi  conducting.  The 
response  of  the  public  was  immediate  and  sensational;  the 
receipts  for  th  •  half-dozen  nights  amounted  to  about  $70,000 
( '"14.000).  As  a  faithful  chronicler  lias  since  written: 
"Prices  of  admissioD  were  abnormal,  and  so  was  the  audi- 
Pashion  heard  Patti  at  the  Metropolitan,  and  so  did 
suburban  folk,  who  came  to  $10  opera  in  business  coats,  bon- 
nets, and  shawls.  Such  audiences  were  never  seen  in  the 
theatre  before  or  since."  ' 

The  six  operas  given  were  "La  Traviata,"  "Semiramide," 
"Faust,"  "Carmen,"  "Lucia,"  and  "Martha";  and  as  re- 
gards the  fourth  of  these  it  may  be  noted  that  New  York  did 
not  reverse  the  verdict  of  London.  It  did  not  hail  in  the  new 
Carmen  another  Minnie  Hauk  plus  the  personality  and  voice 
of  Patti.  On  the  contrary,  the  house  was  frigid,  and  the 
critics,  plain-spoken  as  usual,  declared  that  this  was  not  Car- 
men. One  asks,  how  came  the  sensitive  prima  donna  to  risk 
such  confirmation  of  a  distinctly  adverse  opinion?  The  nat- 
ural conclusion  is  that  she  did  not  feel  inclined  to  accept  the 
Covent  Garden  decision;  that  she  thought  the  American  pub- 
lic might  take  the  opposite  view  and  acclaim  her  in  the  part. 
Moreover,  there  were  those  lovely  Spanish  costumes  lying 
ready  in  her  trunks.  What  a  pity  not  to  show  them  beneath 
the  broad  proscenium  of  the  Metropolitan ! 

Thus  was  finally  frustrated  a  wish  that  had  evidently  been 
very  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  artist.  That  it  involved  an  error 
of  judgment  was  never,  in  all  probability,  realized  either  by 

i  "Chapters  of  Opera,"  by  H.  E.  Krehbiel,  p.  1G. 


MME.  PATH    WITH    HER  NIECE  CARL.INA,   1887 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  241 

herself  or  by  those  around  her;  otherwise  it  is  hard  to  believe 
that  she  would  have  elected  to  tempt  Providence  more  than 
once  and  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  And,  after  all,  how 
few  ambitions  did  she  cherish  that  were  not  fulfilled  at  some 
period  of  her  extraordinary  career ! 

On  her  return  home  (May,  1887)  it  was  stated  in  the  Eng- 
lish newspapers  that  Mme.  Patti  had  paid  her  last  professional 
visit  to  the  United  States;  and  the  announcement  was  no 
doubt  made  and  received  at  the  time  in  perfect  good  faith. 
But,  as  will  be  seen,  it  again  proved  to  be  "premature." 
Meanwhile  her  labors  for  the  summer  of  1887  did  not  end 
until  she  had  sung  at  two  Albert  Hall  concerts,  under  the 
management  of  Ambrose  Austin,  followed  by  a  solitary  per- 
formance in  opera  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre  on  Friday, 
July  1. 

The  latter  event  derived  its  chief  interest  from  the  fact 
that  it  marked  Mme.  Patti 's  one  and  only  appearance  upon  the 
boards  of  the  old  opera  house  in  the  Haymarket.  It  was 
wholly  unexpected.  Some  strange  happenings  were,  however, 
connected  with  this,  the  concluding  phase  of  a  melancholy 
Maplesonian  campaign  which  had  started  under  difficulties, 
which  nobody  wanted,  and  which  was  to  terminate  its  miser- 
able existence  at  the  very  moment  when  Augustus  Harris  was 
laying  the  foundations  for  the  renascence  of  opera  in  Great 
Britain  at  Drury  Lane  Theatre.  The  diva's  share  in  her  old 
manager's  last  desperate  plunge  is  epitomized  in  the  follow- 
ing paragraph,  taken  from  the  pages  of  a  chronicle  of  the 
time: 1 

Mme.  Adelina  Patti  made  her  first  (and  only)  appearance  on  the 
boards  of  Her  Majesty's  Theatre  in  Verdi's  "Traviata,"  on  Friday, 

i  Musical  Notes,  an  "Annual  Critical  Record  of  Important  Musical 
Events,"  by  Herman  Klein:     London.  The  Stage  Office,  1888. 


242  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

July  1,  1887.  To  the  vast  majority  of  Mine.  Patti's  admirers  her 
performance  in  opera  during  the  present  season  came  as  a  surprise. 
At  the  time  of  her  return  from  America  it  was  anticipated  that  she 
would  sing  at  one  or  other  of  the  London  opera  houses;  hut  the 
negotiations  all  fell  through,  and  when  Mine.  Patti  went  home  to 
Craig-y-Nos  after  her  last  concert  in  town,  it  was  distinctly  believed 
that  she  intended  remaining  there  for  her  summer  holiday. 

However,  Mr.  Mapleson  subsequently  arranged  matters  with  Mr. 
Abbey  (who  then  had  the  exclusive  right  to  Mme.  Patti's  services 
in  London),  and  here  was  the  diva  once  more  exercising  her  old 
fascination,  in  the  character  of  Violetta,  before  an  audience  that 
filled  every  available  nook  and  corner  of  Her  Majesty's.  It  is 
scarcely  needful  to  add  that  the  great  artist  was  enthusiastically  re- 
ceived. For  herself,  indeed,  the  evening  constituted  a  long  series 
of  triumphs.  Of  her  supporters  on  the  stage  the  less  said  the  bet- 
ter. 

Mme.  Patti  was  to  have  appeared  in  "II  Barbiere"  on  the  follow- 
ing Tuesday,  but  an  attack  of  hoarseness  was  declared  to  be  the 
cause  that  prevented  her  singing.  This  circumstance  compelled  Mr. 
Mapleson  to  close  his  theatre  once  more.  He  announced  that  it 
would  reopen  on  the  Saturday  with  '-Faust,"  Mme.  Patti  appearing 
as  Marguerite.  The  house  opened,  truly,  but  the  opera  given  was 
"Carmen,"  with  Mme.  Trebelli  in  the  title-character,  and,  curious  to 
relate,  no  charge  was  made  for  admission  to  the  performance  [sic]. 
This,  however,  was  the  "last  dying  flicker."  Thenceforward  the 
doors  of  Her  Majesty's  remained  closed,  so  far  as  Mr.  Mapleson  was 
concerned,  terminating  the  most  remarkable  series  of  operatic  ven- 
tures ever  conducted  by  an  impresario  in  course  of  a  single  season. 

In  October  of  the  same  year  Maurice  Strakosch  died  in 
Paris,  where  he  had  been  living  for  some  time.  Just  before 
his  death  he  wrote  and  published  the  amusing  but  unreliable 
and  somewhat  straggling  volume  of  "Souvenirs"  so  frequently 
quoted  in  these  pages.  The  most  conspicuous  feature  therein 
is  the  author's  name,  which  it  must  have  afforded  him  sin- 
gular pleasure  to  see  in  print,  since  he  speaks  of  himself  only 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  243 

in  the  third  person  and  does  so  on  nearly  every  page.  The 
portion  of  the  book  that  he  devoted  to  his  renowned  sister-in- 
law  was  relatively  small ;  but  he  bore  her  no  malice,  and  was 
obviously  proud  of  his  association  with  her,  though  too  prone 
occasionally  to  overestimate  the  value  of  his  own  services, 
artistic  as  well  as  commercial.  On  the  whole,  Maurice  Stra- 
kosch  was  what  the  world  to-day  would  describe  as  "not  a 
bad  sort,"  and,  all  allowances  made,  it  is  fair  to  assert  that 
Adelina  Patti  owed  a  great  deal  to  his  practical  experience 
and  sage  counsel  at  the  most  critical  period  of  her  life. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Patti'B  "Banner"  Year  (1888)— First  Visit  to  South  America— Past  and 
Present  Operatic  Fees  Compared:  All  Records  Broken — Enthusiasm 
and  Gold  in  the  Argentine — Total  of  £1(10,000  Earned  in  Eighteen 
Months — "Romeo"  Transferred  to  the  Paris  Opera — Historic  Gala 
Performance:  Patti  and  Jean  de  Reszke  Sing,  Gounod  Conducts — 
The  IS'ew  Juliette — American  Tours  of  1889-00  under  Abbey  and  Grau 
— Patti  Sings  Lakme — A  Visit  to  Mexico— Showers  of  Gifts  and  Hon- 
ors— Return  to  London,  Summer  of  1890 — A  Cold  and  Its  Conse- 
quences— Patti's  Voice  Attains  Its  Zenith — The  Secret  of  Its  Preser- 
vation— Her  '"Advice  to  Singers" — Anecdotes  of  Her  Presence  of 
Mind  (Told  by  Herself) — Her  Capacity  as  a  Dramatic  Soprano — An 
American  Criticism  Criticized 

THE  period  between  the  January  and  the  July  of  1888 
was  the  most  lucrative  in  Mme.  Patti's  whole  profes- 
sional career.  In  those  six  months  she  earned  larger  sums 
than  have  ever  been  paid,  before  or  since,  to  any  artist  in  the 
history  of  musical  enterprise.  It  was  the  epoch  that  in- 
cluded her  first  visit  to  South  America. 

For  a  long  while  the  Eldorado  that  had  enriched  Italy's 
two  greatest  tenors — Masini  and  Tamagno — had  been  pa- 
tiently waiting  for  her  to  bring  with  her  her  largest  coffers 
and  fill  them  with  gold.  But  prior  to  her  second  marriage 
the  prize  had  not  appeared  to  be  comfortably  within  her 
grasp.  The  mind  of  the  Marquis  de  Caux  had  been  occupied 
more  with  the  courts  of  Europe  and  imperial  or  royal  decora- 
tions than  possible  fortunes  to  be  won  in  the  Brazils  or  the 
Argentine.  The  practical  Nicolini  was,  on  the  contrary,  in- 
clined to  cast  a  longing  eye  on  those  distant  countries. 

One  day,  while  travelling  in  the  United  States,  Nicolini  had 
discussed  the  idea  of  such  a  tour  with  Henry  Abbey,  whose 

244 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  245 

deft  management  of  the  American  "Farewell  No.  2"  had 
created  in  him  both  confidence  and  esteem.  Another  reliable 
New  York  manager,  in  the  person  of  Marcus  Mayer,  was  also 
consulted.  All  agreed  that  the  moment  was  ripe,  as  Amer- 
ican financiers  say,  for  the  "cutting  of  the  melon."  Nego- 
tiations with  the  local  impresarios  were  at  once  entered  upon. 

Now,  the  South  American  republics,  notably  the  Argentine, 
pay  opera  singers  of  high  renown  bigger  sums  than  any  other 
countries  in  the  world.  The  substantial  amounts  earned  in 
North  America,  Canada,  and  Australasia  by  popular  British 
artists  (Melba  and  Clara  Butt,  for  example)  cannot  be  com- 
pared with  the  golden  harvests  reaped  in  the  wealthy  and 
opulent  capitals  of  these  South  American  states.  In  order 
to  induce  Adelina  Patti  to  visit  Buenos  Ay  res,  Montevideo, 
Rio  de  Janeiro,  etc.,  the  managers  of  the  opera  houses  there 
immediately  expressed  their  readiness  to  break  all  existing 
records  in  the  matter  of  terms.  If  she  would  come,  she 
should  receive  not  only  the  guaranteed  fee  of  £1,000  per  rep- 
resentation paid  her  in  the  United  States,  but  a  further  per- 
centage upon  the  gross  receipts  that  would  probably  increase 
her  cachet  by  half  as  much  again.  She  accepted  without  hesi- 
tation. 

Great  singers  have  always  commanded  big  salaries.  In 
1734  the  famous  male  vocalist,  Farinelli,  received  more  than 
£8,000  for  the  season  in  London — a  sum  representing  at  least 
six  times  that  amount  in  the  money  of  to-day.  A  little  over  a 
century  ago  Catalani  earned  £16,000  in  one  year.  Ninety 
years  ago  Pasta  was  paid  £3,700  for  a  three-months'  season 
in  London;  and  a  few  years  after  that  the  peerless  Malibran 
received  £5,000  for  a  similar  period.  But  many  of  these 
highly  paid  singers  of  a  bygone  era  succeeded  in  ruining  their 
managers;  whereas  Patti,  as  has  already  been  shown,  in- 
variably brought  them  profit.  It  was  on  the  nights  when  she 
was  not  singing  that  they  incurred  losses;  generally  because 


246  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

they  were  so  foolish  as  to  persist  in  charging  the  same  high 
prices  for  inferior  artists,  instead  of  reducing  prices  on  "off 
nights"  to  the  average  theatre  level. 

Mme.  Patti  was  absent  from  England  altogether  nine 
months,  namely,  from  December  10,  1887,  until  September  3, 
1888.  She  was  accompanied  by  Signor  Nicolini,  by  her  niece, 
Miss  Carlina  Patti,  Mr.  Abbey,  Mr.  Marcus  Mayer,  and  Mr. 
Augustus  F.  M.  Spalding,  one  of  her  oldest  and  most  trusted 
English  friends,  besides,  of  course  her  faithful  companion, 
"Karo."  Before  leaving  London  she  appeared  at  an  eve- 
ning concert  at  the  Albert  Hall;  and  it  was  noteworthy 
not  only  for  her  exceptionally  fine  singing,  but  for  a"  gather- 
ing which,  in  spite  of  one  of  the  densest  fogs  ever  experienced 
in  the  metropolis,  filled  the  building  in  every  part. 

Proceeding  leisurely  by  way  of  Paris  and  Madrid  to  Lisbon, 
she  appeared  at  the  Royal  Opera  House  in  the  Spanish  cap- 
ital (her  native  city),  and  received  £3,000  for  six  perform- 
ances. The  Madrilenos  welcomed  their  celebrated  compatriot 
with  characteristic  warmth.  Her  forty-fifth  birthday  occurred 
during  the  visit ;  and  they  refused,  despite  her  Italian  parent- 
age and  American  upbringing,  to  allow  that  she  was  aught  but 
a  pure  Spaniard. 

The  party  took  passage  at  Lisbon  on  board  the  French 
steamer  Congo  for  Buenos  Ayres.  There  twenty-four  repre- 
sentations of  opera  were  given  at  the  Politeama  Argentino. 
This  magnificent  auditorium,  which  accommodated  five  thou- 
sand people,  was  crammed  on  each  occasion,  the  receipts  on  the 
first  night  exceeding  £4,000.  It  was  stated  that  speculators 
made  a  profit  of  as  much  as  £6  a  seat  for  stalls.  The  twenty- 
four  performances  realized  no  less  than  £70,000,  of  which 
sum  Mme.  Patti  received  as  her  share  £38,400,  or  £1,600  a 
night.  This,  of  course,  easily  cast  into  the  shade  all  the  pre- 
vious records  associated  with  Masini  and  Tamagno ;  nor  have 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  247 

such  figures  been  since  approached  either  in  any  other  city 
or  by  any  other  opera  singer. 

Going  on  to  Montevideo,  eight  representations  were  given 
at  the  Teatro  Solis,  and  for  these  the  total  receipts  amounted 
to  about  £20,000.  It  had  been  arranged  that  afterwards  the 
party  should  proceed  to  Rio  de  Janeiro  and  appear  at  the 
Don  Pedro  Secunda  Opera  House ;  but,  an  epidemic  of  yellow 
fever  having  broken  out  there,  some  of  the  company  refused 
to  proceed.  Four  farewell  performances  were,  however,  given 
in  Buenos  Ayres,  at  which  the  receipts  averaged  £3,570  a  night. 
On  the  occasion  of  Mme.  Patti 's  "benefit"  scenes  of  the  wild- 
est enthusiasm  were  enacted.  Bouquets  and  floral  tributes 
were  thrown  upon  the  stage  in  such  profusion  that  the  prima 
donna,  when  coming  forward  to  take  her  calls,  was  "actually 
compelled  to  tread  among  flowers."  The  President  of  the 
Argentine  Republic  and  other  "notables"  made  her  hand- 
some presents,  and  attentions  of  every  kind  were  showered 
upon  the  distinguished  visitor. 

From  first  to  last,  the  tour  was  an  unprecedented  triumph. 
It  was  admirably  managed,  and,  in  a  financial  sense,  by  far 
the  most  successful  that  Mme.  Patti  ever  undertook.  It  was 
estimated  that  her  share  of  the  total  receipts  exceeded  £50,000, 
four  fifths  of  which  could  be  reckoned  as  her  profit.  Her 
health  throughout  was  excellent,  and  only  twice  in  Buenos 
Ayres  had  a  performance  to  be  postponed.  The  voyage  home 
was  made  in  the  Ionic  from  Rio  direct,  via  Teneriffe,  to 
Plymouth. 

Another  profitable  tour  at  about  this  time  was  undertaken 
in  Spain  under  the  management  of  Messrs.  Schiirmann  and 
Pollini,  of  Hamburg.  In  that  instance,  however,  Mme.  Patti 
and  her  husband  were  content  with  a  minimum  guaranty  of 
£400  a  representation,  which  would  have  been  £100  less  than 
the  sum  paid  her  by  Mapleson  during  his  final  season  at 
Covent  Garden.     As  it  was,  the  total  receipts  were  alleged 


248  THE   REIGN  OF  PATTI 

to  have  amounted  to  £43,927  for  thirty-one  performances,  or 
an  average  of  £1,417.  Out  of  this  Mme.  Patti  took  altogether 
£12,400;  while  other  expenses  came  roughly  to  £20,000,  leav- 
ing the  respectable  profit  of  £11,500. 

Altogether,  in  the  course  of  eighteen  months  (1888-89)  she 
must  have  made  an  income  closely  approximating  the  extraor- 
dinary figure  of  £100,000.  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that 
such  a  sum  was  never  before  earned  by  any  singer  within  the 
same  space  of  time. 

After  a  welcome  holiday  of  six  weeks,  spent  at  Craig-y-Nos 
Castle,  Mme.  Patti-Nicolini  (as  in  private  life  she  was  now 
invariably  called)  journeyed  to  Paris  to  recreate  the  role  of 
the  heroine  in  Gounod's  "Romeo  et  Juliette"  when  it  was 
transferred  from  the  repertoire  of  the  Opera-Comique  to  that 
of  the  Opera  or  Academic  Nationale  de  Musique.  The  event 
was  fixed  for  November  28,  1888 ;  and.  when  passing  through 
London  on  the  20th,  she  remained  overnight  to  take  part  in  an 
Albert  Hall  concert,  at  which  there  also  appeared  three  fa- 
mous British  artists,  Edward  Lloyd,  Foli,  and  Mme.  Patey — 
the  great  contralto  joining  her  in  the  "Quis  est  homo"  from 
Rossini's  "Stabat  Mater." 

To  this  noteworthy  reprise  of  Gounod's  "Romeo"  refer- 
ence has  been  already  made  in  an  earlier  chapter.  It  at- 
tracted at  the  time  the  attention  of  the  entire  musical  world ; 
and  for  several  reasons.  To  begin  with,  it  signalized  the  re- 
appearance of  Adelina  Patti  on  the  Paris  stage  after  many 
years'  absence.  It  marked  her  debut  at  the  Opera;  for  in 
bygone  days  she  had  always  sung  either  at  the  Italiens  or  the 
Theatre-Lyrique.  It  was  the  first  time  she  had  sung  an  opera 
in  the  French  language,  either  in  the  French  capital  or  else- 
where. It  was  the  first — and,  as  events  proved,  the  last — 
time  that  she  appeared  in  public  in  the  same  opera  and  upon 
the  same  stage  with  the  gifted  Polish  tenor,  Jean  de  Reszke, 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  249 

who  was  now  the  popular  idol  not  only  of  Parisian  but  of 
London  opera-goers.  And,  finally,  Gounod,  who  was  himself 
to  conduct  the  'premiere,  had  touched  up  the  music  and  com- 
posed expressly  for  Jean  de  Reszke  a  new  finale  to  the  third 
act,  which  was  among  the  features  that  were  to  impart  fresh 
interest  to  a  hitherto  somewhat,  unappreciated  (because  un- 
equal) opera. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Mme.  Patti's  participation 
in  this  event  came  about  without  some  exercise  of  diplomatic 
skill.  As  a  rule,  she  refused  point-blank  to  do  anything  at 
short  notice;  and,  until  the  early  part  of  October,  there  had 
not  been  the  slightest  idea  of  inviting  her  to  undertake  her 
old  part  under  these  novel  conditions.  The  circumstances 
that  led  to  the  request  and  its  acceptance  are  worth  relating. 

It  had  been  arranged,  in  the  first  instance,  that  the  part 
of  Juliette  should  be  filled  by  the  talented  French  soprano, 
Mme.  Darclee.  She  actually  sang  at  some  of  the  preliminary 
rehearsals;  but  soon  it  became  apparent  that  the  lady  was 
suffering  from  an  attack  of  ' '  nerves, ' '  which  grew  more  acute 
every  day,  until  at  last  all  hope  of  her  cooperation  in  the 
revival  had  to  be  abandoned.  Then  it  was  that  M.  Gailhard, 
one  of  the  directors  of  the  Opera,  bethought  him  of  the  cele- 
brated cantatrice  who  had  heretofore  been  the  only  operatic 
Juliette  that  the  world,  outside  France,  had  either  known  or 
cared  about.  Without  losing  a  day  (there  was  no  time  for 
correspondence)  and  without  mentioning  a  word  to  a  soul, — 
least  of  all  to  Gounod, — M.  Gailhard  hurriedly  crossed  the 
Channel  and  made  tracks  as  directly  as  he  could  for  Craig-y- 
Nos  Castle — a  long,  slow,  tedious  journey  at  the  best  of 
times. 

The  surprise  of  the  master  and  mistress  when  the  tran- 
quillity of  their  Welsh  retreat  was  thus  abruptly  ruffled  by 
the  unexpected  arrival  of  the  manager  of  the  Paris  Opera 
can  perhaps  be  imagined.     Fortunately,  he  was  an  old  friend 


250  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

and  could  count  upon  a  cordial  reception;  for  M.  Gailhard 
had  been  formerly  an  operatic  baritone  of  distinction  (he 
was  a  pupil  of  Faure)  and  had  often  sung  Mephistopheles 
to  Mine.  Patti's  Marguerite  in  the  Gye  days  at  Covent  Garden. 
Mme.  Patti  at  once  proceeded  to  guess  the  object  of  his  visit — 
and  guessed  wrong. 

"I  know,"  she  said,  "why  you  have  come  to  see  me.  You 
want  me  to  sing  at  the  Paris  Exposition  [of  1889]." 

"No,  madame,"  answered  M.  Gailhard.  "I  want  you  to 
honor  me  by  saying  'yes'  to  an  entirely  different  proposi- 
tion; one  of  a  far  more  pressing  nature."  And  then,  with 
all  a  Frenchman's  dialectical  subtlety,  he  laid  before  her  his 
real  mission.     It  did  not  at  first  seem  fated  to  succeed. 

' '  Impossible  ! ' '  was  Mme.  Patti 's  reply.  ' '  I  have  always 
sung  Juliette  in  Italian.  I  have  concert  engagements  in  the 
English  provinces  until  the  middle  of  November.  Besides,  I 
sing  at  the  Albert  Hall  on  the  20th.  I  don't  see  how  I  am  to 
learn  the  French  text  and  be  in  Paris  in  time  for  the  28th." 

"Would  you  only  be  willing  to  make  the  attempt?"  urged 
the  worthy  director — "for  Gounod's  sake,  for  my  sake,  for 
everybody's  sake?  Think  of  the  added  lustre  that  your  pres- 
ence will  confer  upon  an  occasion  to  which  tout  Paris  is  look- 
ing forward.  Moreover,  if  necessary  we  will  postpone  the 
date  a  little.     Essay ez-le  done,  je  vous  en  prie,  madame!" 

The  argument  was  not  without  effect ;  but  the  prima  donna 
was  unwilling  to  make  an  immediate  decision.  "No,  it  won't 
do  to  alter  the  date,  because  I  must  be  back  in  London  to 
sing  again  at  the  Albert  Hall  on  December  11.  But  you  must 
give  me  time  to  consider.  I  will  talk  it  over  with  Ernest 
and  let  you  know  in  two  or  three  days.  I  want  to  have  a 
look  at  the  score  and  see  if  I  can  really  venture  to  sing  it  in 
French." 

M.  Gailhard  left  the  castle  in  a  jubilant  frame  of  mind, 
for  he  felt  sure  he  had  succeeded.     He  returned  to  Paris,  and 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  251 

eomnmnicated  his  secret  to  e\ery  one  concerned  except  the 
venerable  composer,  whom  it  would  not  be  wise  to  disappoint, 
especially  as  he  had  meanwhile  accepted  another  artist  in 
Mme.  Darclee's  place.  Forty-eight  hours  later — to  be  exact, 
on  the  24th  of  October — the  exultant  manager  interrupted  a 
rehearsal  and  flourished  before  the  astonished  gaze  of  M. 
Gounod  the  following  telegram : 

M.  G-ailhard,  Director  of  the  Opera,  Paris.  My  dear  Colleague — 
I  was  deeply  touched  by  your  visit  to  me  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle. 
You  invite  me  to  assist  in  the  performance  of  an  artistic  master- 
piece conducted  by  the  Maitre  himself.    My  reply  is,  Yes.     Patti. 

The  composer's  joy  was  too  profound  to  find  expression  in 
speech.  He  embraced  every  member  of  the  company  within 
reach,  and  despatched  a  message  to  his  chere  Adelina  thank- 
ing her  with  all  his  heart  for  the  promise  of  her  "gracious 
and  inestimable  help."  He  saw  her  immediately  after  her 
arrival  in  Paris.  She  had  already  mastered  the  French  words, 
and  he  declared  her  accent  to  be  impeccable — "worthy  of  the 
best  traditions  of  the  Opera,"  as  he  neatly  put  it.  Then 
came  two,  if  not  three,  private  rehearsals,  with  Gounod  at 
the  piano  and  Jean  de  Reszke  to  hum  with  her  the  deli- 
cious sequence  of  love  duets;  finally,  one  stage  rehearsal  and 
the  repetition  generate — all  within  the  space  of  about  six 
days ! 

I  went  over  to  Paris  expressly  to  attend  the  new  produc- 
tion of  "Romeo."  It  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  functions 
ever  witnessed  in  the  imposing  salle  of  the  Opera.  In  my 
despatches  to  the  Sunday  Times,  the  Manchester  Guardian, 
and  other  English  papers,  superlatives  inevitably  abounded. 
I  shall  never  forget  the  reception  accorded  to  Gounod  and 
Patti — to  the  former  as  he  made  his  way  into  the  orchestra; 
to  the  latter  when  she  entered  the  Hall  of  the  Capulets,  led 


252  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

for  a  few  steps  by  Juliette's  father,  then  tripping  down  the 
stage  with  all  her  accustomed  brio,  radiant  with  smiles,  ex- 
quisitely gowned,  yet  without  too  many  jewels,  looking  posi- 
tively more  youthful  than  when  she  had  last  sung  the  part 
at  Covent  Garden  a  dozen  years  before. 

But  what  a  difference  now  in  her  portrayal  of  Shakspere's 
heroine !  Nervous  beyond  the  common  she  may  have  been ; 
the  accidental  skipping  of  four  bars  in  the  waltz  told  elo- 
quently of  unwonted  excitement.  (Everybody  was  nervous, 
Gounod  most  of  all,  although  sheer  presence  of  mind  enabled 
him  more  than  once  to  save  the  situation.)  Still,  this  was 
quite  another  Juliet;  something  more  than  a  picture;  a  flesh- 
and-blood  Italian  girl,  in  all  things  redolent  of  Southern 
passion  at  its  height;  in  short,  the  ideal  embodiment,  so  far 
as  the  opera  will  allow,  of  the  loving  and  lovable  maiden  and 
wife  depicted  by  Shakspere.  How  she  sang  there  is  no  need 
to  say,  but  from  the  dramatic  point  of  view  the  famous  artist 
that  night  took  the  sternest  of  French  critics  by  surprise. 
Not  a  word  was  uttered  or  written  save  in  unstinted  admira- 
tion. 

Side  by  side  with  this  fragrant  and  exquisite  impersonation 
stood  the  no  less  incomparable  Romeo  of  Jean  de  Res/.ke — one 
of  those  rare  poetic  conceptions,  supreme  alike  as  a  his- 
trionic and  a  musical  achievement,  that  only  a  truly  great 
artist  could  have  indelibly  stamped  upon  the  memory  of  a 
generation.  Mario's  Romeo  was  now  completely  forgotten; 
Nicolini's  gently  brushed  aside.  Gounod  put  it  in  a  single 
sentence :  ' '  This  is  my  ideal  Romeo,  even  as  Patti  is  my  ideal 
Juliette!"  The  beauty  of  the  Polish  tenor's  French  diction 
lent  a  new  charm  to  every  phrase.  "Non,  ce  n'est  pas  le  jour; 
c'est  le  doux  rossignol!"  had  never  before  poured  from  sing- 
er's lips  with  such  poignancy  of  tone  and  utterance.  For 
ten  years  (or  rather  less)  after  this  was  Jean  de  Reszke  to 
hold  the  opera-lovers  of  Paris,  London,  and  New  York  in 


THE  REIGN  OP'  PATTI  253 

thrall  with  the  thrilling  ecstasy  of  these  passages;  and  he, 
too,  has  had  no  successor. 

Except  in  Paris  during  the  few  representations  that  were 
practicable  in  the  time  at  her  disposal,  Mme.  Patti  and  M.  de 
Reszke  were  not  afterwards  heard  together  in  Gounod's  re- 
juvenated opera.  Her  place  at  the  Opera  was  subsequently 
filled  by  the  two  American  sopranos,  Emma  Eames  and  Su- 
zanne Adams.  In  London,  the  following  season,  it  was  Melba 
who  shared  the  honors  with  the  Polish  tenor,  whose  lamented 
brother  Edouard,  by  the  way,  always  displayed  his  noble  basso 
with  unsurpassable  grandeur  in  the  music  of  Frere  Laurent. 

Somehow  a  slight  estrangement  occurred  between  Mme. 
Patti  and  Jean  de  Reszke  after  their  association  in  this 
notable  revival.  What  gave  rise  to  it  I  am  unable  to  say, 
nor  does  that  now  matter ;  but,  oddly  enough,  it  was  my  good 
fortune  to  bring  about  a  rapprochement  between  them.  They 
had  not  met  or  spoken  since  "Romeo,"  when  one  evening 
they  found  themselves  in  each  other's  company  at  dinner  at 
my  flat  in  Whitehall  Court.1  That  was  nearly  eight  years 
later. 

Mme.  Patti  then  greeted  her  old  friends  Jean  and  Edouard 
as  if  the  links  in  their  long  spell  of  friendship  had  never  been 
even  strained,  much  less  broken.  At  table  she  sat  between 
Jean  and  myself;  while  Nicolini  talked  about  his  "Strads" 
to  the  great  'cellist,  Piatti.  A  few  years  later,  M.  de  Reszke, 
following  Mme.  Patti 's  example,  added  a  small  theatre  to  the 
resources  of  his  elegant  house  in  the  Rue  de  la  Faisanderie ; 
and  more  than  once,  when  visiting  Paris,  she  delighted  him 
and  his  guests  by  appearing  upon  the  little  stage  in  some 
scene  from  her  well-remembered  repertoire. 

Perhaps  the  most  agreeable  and  interesting  of  all  Mme. 

i  The  incidents  of  this  reception  in  honor  of  Mme.  Patti  were  de- 
scribed in  "Thirty  Years  of  Musical  Life  in  London." 


254  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Patti's  tours  on  the  American  continent  were  those  carried 
out  under  the  joint  management  of  Messrs.  Henry  Abbey  and 
Maurice  Gran  in  1889  and  1S90.  The  earlier  one  was  pre- 
ceded by  the  customary  round  of  concerts  in  the  English 
provinces,  and  no  fewer  than  three  appearances  (in  January 
and  February)  at  the  Albert  Hall. 

These  home  concerts,  it  should  be  noted,  were  now  organ- 
ized and  directed  by  Messrs.  Harrison,  of  Birmingham,  who 
gave  them  at  their  own  risk  (not  a  serious  one,  presumably) 
and  paid  Mine.  Patti  a  fixed  sum  for  each  concert — £600  in 
the  provinces  and  eight  hundred  guineas  in  London.  Mr. 
Percy  Harrison,  the  nephew  of  the  founder  of  this  well-known 
firm,  had  engaged  her  to  sing  at  their  annual  "Subscription 
Concerts"  at  the  Birmingham  Town  Hall  as  far  back  as  Sep- 
tember, 1874 ;  and  after  that,  when  not  absent  from  England, 
she  appeared  at  them  regularly  once  every  year  until  her 
retirement.  He  now  took  up  the  functions  of  "concert  im- 
presario" to  Mme.  Patti  initiated — in  London  only — by  Am- 
brose Austin,  and  proved  himself  a  faithful  and  energetic 
successor  to  that  trusty  veteran.1 

If  eight  hundred  guineas  a  concert  paid  by  Percy  Harri- 
son indicated  the  high-water  mark  of  singers'  fees  in  the  Brit- 
ish metropolis,  the  1889  contract  with  Abbey  and  Grau  at- 
tained the  "top  notch"  for  South  America.  The  latter  was 
for  another  series  of  operatic  performances,  and  it  stipulated 
a  nightly  pa3'ment  of  £1,250,  plus  half  the  gross  receipts  over 
£2,400.  It  need  only  be  stated  that  the  audiences  in  Buenos 
Ayres  and  elsewhere  were,  if  possible,  larger  than  during 
Mme.  Patti's  earlier  tour,  to  make  manifest  that  a  very  large 

i  Percy  Harrison  was  a  concert  manager  in  the  true  sense,  inasmuch 
as  he  undertook  the  entire  financial  responsibility  and  paid  so  much 
a  concert  to  all  the  celebrated  artists  who  toured  the  country  under 
his  direction.     He  died  in  December,  1917,  at  the  age  of  seventy-one. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  255 

sum  was  again  realized ;  and  it  was  the  same  story  on  her  last 
visit  to  those  parts  in  1893. 

Lower  terms  were  commanded  on  the  American  continent 
during  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1889-90,  when  operations 
were  restricted  to  the  leading  cities  of  the  United  States  and 
Mexico.  Nevertheless,  it  was  stated  on  reliable  authority 
that  Mme.  Patti's  share  of  that  undertaking  amounted  in 
round  figures  to  £32.000  for  an  aggregate  of  forty-three  ap- 
pearances. In  addition,  she  returned  loaded  with  presents, 
including  a  crown  of  solid  gold  and  a  pair  of  ruby-and-dia- 
mond  earrings,  presented  to  her  in  Mexico  City  by  President 
Diaz  and  his  wife.  Well  might  a  London  newspaper,  record- 
ing these  facts  at  the  time,  make  the  prophetic  remark,  "So 
long  as  this  great  vocalist  can  earn  such  sums,  she  is  not  likely 
to  retire ! ' ' 

Indeed,  much  less  stress  was  now  laid  upon  the  word  "fare- 
well" than  had  been  the  case  during  the  preceding  tours 
in  the  States.  It  no  longer  constituted  the  dominant  note, 
because  experience  had  shown  that  there  was  no  necessity  to 
employ  what  Americans  called  the  "extra  punch"  as  an  in- 
ducement for  them  to  go  and  hear  Patti.  Also,  it  had  been 
made  evident  that  present  use  of  the  "farewell"  device  was 
premature,  and  therefore  inexact.  It  might  have  continued 
to  be  so.  Still,  in  New  York  the  asset  was  apparently  too 
valuable  to  be  ignored  altogether,  and  there  it  was  utilized 
by  Abbey  and  Grau  with  sufficient  persistency  to  arouse  the 
ire  of  some  of  the  musical  critics.  The  fact  was  regrettable 
in  a  sense,  but  it  may  be  repeated  that  the  sin  was  purely  a 
managerial  one  and  ought  not  to  have  been  visited  upon  the 
head  of  the  artist. 

Her  companions  on  the  tour  now  referred  to  included 
several  singers  of  distinction :  the  famous  tenor  Tamagno, 
Albani,  Nordica,  Fabbri,  Ravelli,  Del  Puente,  Castelmary,  and 


256  TUP  REIGN  OP  PATTI 

Novara.  With  Tamagno  in  the  troupe  a  special  feature  was 
naturally  made  of  Verdi's  "Otello,"  which  had  been  produced 
at  La  Scala  only  two  years  before  and  was  an  absolute  novelty 
in  America.  Some  one  suggested  that  Patti,  the  peerless  Des- 
demona  of  Rossini's  opera,  would  be  far  more  interesting  in 
the  more  complex  creation  of  Verdi.  She  did  not  welcome  the 
idea.  She  admired  the  work  in  many  ways,  but  the  music  of 
Desdemona,  as  conceived  by  the  veteran  maestro  of  Sant' 
Agata,  somehow  did  not  appeal  to  her.1 

A  further  motive  for  Mme.  Patti 's  attitude  may  be  ascribed 
to  the  fact  that  she  had  for  some  time  been  absorbed  in  the 
study  of  another  attractive  new  character,  to  wit,  the  charm- 
ing heroine  of  Delibes'  "Lakme."  To  this  she  had  taken  a 
great  fancy.  The  music  suited  her  to  perfection ;  and  alto- 
gether the  role  of  the  self-sacrificing  Indian  maiden  was  well 
designed  for  the  display  of  her  vocal  gifts  and  her  growing 
flair  for  picturesque,  romantic  drama.  Unfortunately,  the 
opera  had  to  be  sung  to  an  Italian  version  of  the  French  text, 
the  grace  of  which  it  in  no  way  reflected.  Given  for  the  first 
time  in  Boston  (the  receipts  amounting  to  $20,000),  the  per- 
formance proved  quite  unworthy  both  of  the  work  and  of 
the  new  Lakme.  Her  singing  of  the  familiar  "Bell  Song" 
easily  roused  the  house  to  a  high  pitch  of  enthusiasm ;  her 
personal  triumph,  however,  was  marred  by  the  inefficiency 
of  those  supporting  her.  In  New  York  it  was  the  same. 
There  "the  performance  was  so  desperately  slipshod  that  it 
awakened  only  pity  for  Delibes'  work."  2 

Mme.  Patti  never  sang  the  part  of  Lakme  in  London.  It 
came  too  late  to  take  a  place  in  her  regular  repertory,  for 

1  The  part  was  sung  in  the  United  States  by  Mme.  Albarii,  who 
achieved  success  in  it  and  worthily  supported  Tamagno  in  his  superb 
delineation  of  the  Moor.  But  Del  Puente,  the  ideal  Toreador  of  "Car- 
men," did  not  prove  an  equally  good  substitute  for  Maurel,  the  original 
J  ago. 

i  "Chapters  of  Opera." 


JULIETTE,    1888 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  257 

her  active  career  in  opera  had  now  all  but  reached  its  termi- 
nation. It  was,  however,  the  only  important  character  that 
she  ever  assumed  in  a  foreign  opera  house  without  appearing 
in  it  in  England. 

The  main  incidents  of  this  American  tour  of  1889-90  have 
been  amusingly  described  by  the  late  Mme.  Arditi,  an  amiable 
and  witty  Irish  lady,  who  recounted  them  in  a  series  of  letters 
to  her  daughter.1  She  tells  how  the  company  first  assembled 
at  Chicago  in  December  1889,  in  time  for  the  inauguration  of 
the  new  Auditorium — just  completed  at  a  cost  of  eight  million 
dollars.  "The  opening  night  is  to  be  devoted  to  the  dedica- 
tion and  to  the  making  of  sundry  speeches,  while  Patti  will 
sing  'Home,  sweet  home'  (the  only  musical  item),  for  which 
she  will  be  paid  £800!" 

From  Chicago  they  travelled  direct  to  Mexico : 

As  we  approached  Texas  it  seemed  as  though  the  roads  were 
garnished  with  cactus  plants,  and  all  along  the  line  the  natives  turn 
out  of  their  huts  to  stare  at  Patti's  car,  which  bears  her  name  in 
large  letters  and  is,  of  course,  the  great  attraction.  .  .  .  To-night 
we  are  invited  to  dine  with  the  diva  in  her  car,  which  is  most  luxuri- 
ous; it  is,  in  fact,  fit  for  any  queen.  Her  suite  is  decorated  in  the 
most  artistic  fashion,  her  monogram  being  interspersed  here  and 
there  on  the  walls  with  flowers  and  musical  instruments;  the  salon 
is  furnished  with  lounges  and  chairs  of  pale  blue  plush,  and  her 
bedroom  is  made  of  inlaid  satinwood,  with  a  brass  bedstead,  a  plush 
counterpane  bearing  her  monogram  exquisitely  embroidered;  while 
she  has  every  luxury,  such  as  a  long  glass,  bath,  electric  light,  piano, 
etc.  .  .  . 

Mexico  at  last!  A  perfect  paradise  of  a  place.  .  .  .  The  house 
for  cur  first  performance  was  magnificent.  Such  wealth,  dresses, 
and  diamonds;  such  a  galaxy  of  beauty,  and  such  appreciative 
though  exacting  audiences,  one  does  not  often  see  combined.  .  .  . 
I  heard  of  a  lady  who  positively  paid  £30  for  a  box,  and  £14  for 
two  seats  in  the  gallery  for  her  maid  and  her  husband's  valet !  .  .  . 

i  "My  Reminiscences,"  by  Luigi  Arditi,  p.  275,  etc. 


258  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Patti  has  just  sent   us  in  a  delicious  dish  from  her  table;  she  has 
brought  her  own  chef  with  her. 

The  stay  in  Mexico  City  lasted  until  the  end  of  January. 
The  season  there  was  a  great  financial  success,  the  people 
being  "so  crazy"  about  the  opera  that  they  actually  pawned 
their  jewelry  to  buy  seats.     Mine.  Arditi  goes  on  to  say: 

Pattr's  benefit,  which  took  place  on  the  29th  of  January,  was 
a  tremendous  success.  The  house  was  a  wonderful  sight,  and  the 
gifts  presented  to  her  were  extraordinary.  Mrs.  Clark  was  think- 
ing of  spending  a  fabulous  sum  on  flowers  for  Patti;  but  I  advised 
her  to  give  Adelina  something  she  could  keep  in  remembrance  of 
her;  consequently  she  brought  an  exquisite  little  clock  in  the  shape 
of  a  Sedan  chair,  which  Luigi  [Arditi]  handed  to  her  from  the 
orchestra.  Grau  gave  her  a  card-case  inlaid  with  diamonds,  the 
President's  wife  a  filigree  silver  box  containing  precious  coins,  while. 
many  other  souvenirs  were  presented  to  her.  "La  Traviata"  was  the 
opera,  and  Patti  was  in  perfect  voice.  .  .  . 

My  little  dog  Chiquito  goes  with  me  to  the  theatre  every  night. 
Patti  takes  hers  to  her  dressiny-room. 


'& 


On  the  voyage  from  New  York  to  Liverpool  Mme.  Patti,  un- 
fortunately, caught  a  severe  col  J.  She  was  under  engagement 
to  Mr.  Kuhe  to  sing  at  the  Albert  Hall  (on  May  14,  1890), 
and,  anxious  not  to  disappoint  either  her  old  friend  or  the 
public,  she  battled  with  a  sharp  attack'  of  hoarseness  and  duly 
appeared.  It  was  a  great  pity  she  did  so.  The  audience 
failed  to  grasp  the  situation.  Unable  to  sing  the  pieces  she 
was  down  for,  she  was  obliged  to  substitute  others,  and,  worse 
still,  to  decline  the  encores  that  were  uproariously  demanded. 
After  "Home,  sweet  home,"  a  noisy  disturbance  ensued.  The 
audience  evidently  thought  there  was  nothing  the  matter  with 
the  artist,  and  forgot  how  generous  she  was  as  a  rule.  There 
was,  of  course,  no  e  euse  for  its  unseemly  behavior,  which  was 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  259 

prolonged  for  several  minutes — indeed,  until  after  Mme.  Patti 
had  actually  left  the  hall. 

Next  day  the  Daily  News  gave  the  following  account  of  the 
episode : 

It  was  in  vain  that  Mr.  Kuhe  appeared  on  the  platform,  and,  be- 
ing denied  a  hearing,  complacently  seated  himself  in  a  chair  till  the 
noise  might  subside.  It  was  equally  in  vain  that  M.  Hollman  at- 
tempted some  violoncello  solos,  and,  finding  himself  utterly  inaudible 
amid  the  din,  finally  left  the  platform.  The  plucky  conduct  of  the 
popular  violoncellist  seemed  to  recall  the  audience  to  a  fitting  sense 
of  their  behaviour,  and  after  another  brief  disturbance,  which  was 
sternly  repressed,  Mme.  Patey  [the  contralto]  was  allowed  to  sing  a 
song  by  Tosti.  In  defence  of  the  public,  it  should  be  said  that  at 
the  Patti  concerts  encores  are  expected,  and  that  during  the  past 
few  years,  although  she  has  rarely  been  announced  for  more  than 
three  songs,  yet  that  loud  and  continued  applause  has  usually  in- 
duced her  to  sing  six  and  often  seven  times  on  a  single  evening. 
That  a  similar  complaisance  to  the  demands  of  the  audience  would 
last  night  have  been  unwise,  the  state  of  Mme.  Patti's  voice,  how- 
ever, amply  showed. 

In  consequence  of  her  excessive  exertion  on  this  occasion, 
Mme.  Patti  was  not  well  enough  to  appear  at  a  second  con- 
cert, which  had  been  announced  for  some  date  in  June.  For- 
tunately, she  had  no  further  engagements  that  summer,  and 
was  thus  able  to  take  a  lengthy  rest;  but  her  voice  did  not 
recover  its  full  strength  for  several  weeks.  It  was  the  first 
time  she  had  ever  suffered  long  and  serious  ill  effects  from  a 
similar  cause.  Possibly  she  had  never  before  literally 
strained  her  voice  by  singing  on  a  severe  cold.  The  result 
clearly  indicated  that,  notwithstanding  her  wonderful  con- 
stitution, she  could  not  now  begin  to  "take  liberties"  with 
impunity. 

There  can  be  no  question  that  the  amazing  freshness  of 


260  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

her  organ  at  this  period  was  largely  due  to  the  constant 
care  that  had  been  exercised  from  the  outset  to  spare  her 
from  over-fatigue.  Adelina  Patti  was  now  able  to  look  back 
upon  an  active  career  of  thirty  years,  without  reckoning  the 
work  done  in  her  childhood.  Yet  the  most  candid  criticism 
could  point  to  nothing  more  perceptible  in  the  way  of  de- 
terioration than  a  somewhat  reduced  compass  and  a  shade  less 
brilliancy  of  tone  in  the  head  register;  while,  to  atone  for 
this  slighl  falling-off,  the  chest  notes  had  grown  more  power- 
ful and  the  medium  more  rich,  more  resonant,  than  before. 
The  younger  Desmond  Ryan,  writing  in  the  Standard  (Jan- 
uary, 1889),  put  it  accurately  when  he  said: 

Those  who  remember  that  far-off  evening,  more  than  a  quarter  of 
a  century  ago,  when  a  young  girl  appeared  on  the  stage  of  Covent 
Garden,  attired  in  the  peasant  costume  of  Amina  .  .  .  might  well 
be  lost  in  admiration  at  the  full,  luscious  tones  displayed  last  night 
in  Handel's  "From  mighty  kings."  As  time  goes  on,  Mme.  Patti's 
voicr  gains  in  volume  what  it  loses  in  compass,  while  its  flexibility 
remains  unsurpassed  and  unsurpassable. 

Joseph  Bennett  would  not  acknowledge  that  any  marked 
change  was  yet  to  be  observed.  His  complaint  was  rather 
that  she  now  sang  so  little  in  London ;  he  deplored  the  loss 
inflicted  thereby  on  opera.  Writing  about  an  Albert  Hall 
concert  on  the  eve  of  her  departure  for  one  of  her  American 
tours,  he  said  in  the  Daily  Telegraph: 

It  is  a  matter  of  regret  that  the  public  should  have  had  so  few 
chances  of  hearing  Mme.  Patti  either  in  the  theatre  or  concert  room 
during  the  last  season.  The  withdrawal  of  an  artist  endowed  with 
rare  talents  is  likely  to  prove  of  serious  consequences  to  Italian 
opera  in  this  country,  where  fashion  has  begun  to  show  it  indiffer- 
ence, and  where  art  of  a  different  kind  is  busy  undermining-  long- 
established  forms.  At  such  a  moment  the  absence  of  its  most  gifted 
illustrator  is  felt  severely,  since  there  is,  unfortunately,  no  one  left 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  261 

with  the  genius  necessary  to  uphold  successfully  an  institution  that 
has,  in  spite  of  many  failings  and  follies,  entertained  generations 
with  vocalisation  often  brought  to  the  highest  point  of  excellence. 

That  this  point  was  well-nigh  reached  in  the  performance  last 
night  of  Rossini's  air,  "Bel  raggio,"  cannot  with  fairness  be  gain- 
said. The  beautiful  melody  seemed  to  flow  with  the  spontaneity 
that  affects  us  in  the  warbling  of  birds.  Yet,  though  appearing 
altogether  free  and  unconstrained,  the  phrases  were,  in  fact,  so 
carefully  modelled  and  so  truly  placed  as  to  form  together  a  com- 
plete and  finished  musical  structure.  Such  a  display  was  thoroughly 
enjoyed  by  the  audience,  and  such  a  lesson,  we  may  add,  should 
prove  invaluable  to  vocal  students  present. 

There  was  also  truth  in  the  following  lines  from  another 
pen  that  appeared  at  about  the  same  time  in  the  same  journal : 

The  tones  that  had  so  long  enraptured  the  musical  public  were 
found  as  bright  and  rich  as  ever.  What  if  the  extreme  notes  be  not 
so  elastic  or  ready  at  command  as  they  once  were,  what  if  the  daring 
flights  of  vocalisation  be  less  spontaneous,  there  is  surely  compen- 
sation afforded  in  the  increase  of  volume,  in  the  ripe  mellowness  of 
the  middle  and  lower  registers.  In  the  melody,  "Spargi  d'amor  il 
pianto,"  the  prima  donna  showed  that  she  is  now  in  full  possession 
of  those  artistic  qualities  which  have  gained  her  wide-world  renown. 
Again,  in  the  aria,  "0  luce  di  quest'  anima,"  Mme.  Patti  displayed 
that  winning  grace,  that  eloquent  charm,  which  has  heretofore  dis- 
tinguished her  singing. 

And  all  those  qualities  were  to  endure  to  the  end.  Notably, 
the  exquisite  roundness,  the  sympathetic  musical  timbre  of  the 
medium  and  chest  tones,  were  to  remain  in  undiminished 
beauty  and  opulence  so  long  as  the  voice  itself  lasted.  For 
it  was  never  to  be  said  by  living  soul  that  Patti  was  heard  to 
sing  when  her  voice  had  lost  its  sweetness  and  charm.  Like 
its  possessor,  it  never  betrayed  the  meaning  of  the  term  "old 
age." 

How  this  miracle  of  preservation  was  accomplished  will 


262  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

by  now  have  been  made  more  or  less  comprehensible  to  the 
reader  of  these  pages.  Patti  once  told  the  "secret"  of  it 
herself  in  America,  after  she  had  been  singing  in  public  more 
than  fifty  years,  to  Mr.  William  Armstrong,  who  reproduced 
her  words  in  an  article  entitled  "Mme.  Patti 's  Advice  to 
Singers:  Her  Own  Rules  for  Preserving  the  Voice."  '  They 
were  not,  perhaps,  her  ipsissima  verba;  but  unquestionably 
they  embodied  with  accuracy  the  thoughts  and  ideas  that  she 
uttered  in  her  interview  with  the  magazine  writer.  Apart 
from  thafj  they  contain  such  sound  common  sense,  so  many 
valuable  hints  to  vocal  students  for  all  time,  that  I  gladly 
avail  inyseJi  of  the  permission  granted  me  to  quote  the  whole 
article  in  tb/jSe  pages.     It  runs  thus : 

"mme.  patti's  advice  to  singers" 

People  who  cultivate  the  voice  have  widely  different  ideas  on 
what  constitutes  the  best  methods  of  its  preservation.  If  I  gave 
lessons.  I  should  cultivate  the  middle  tones,  and  the  voice  of  the 
singer  would  be  good  at  the  age  of  a  hundred.  The  whole  harm  to 
3  voice  Gomes  in  pushing  it  up  and  down,  in  trying  to  add  notes  to 
its  compass. 

"HoTjhigh  car.  .yon  sing?"  appears  to  be  the  question.  But  what 
about  the  foundnLlin  part  of  the  voice — that  is,  the  middle  notes? 
3?7  success  is  founded  on  those  notes,  and  there  can  be  no  enduring 
success  without  them.  How  many  can  sing  very  high  and  yet  can- 
not sing  'Home,  sweet  home'!  Some  pooh-pooh  the  idea  of  the 
difficulty  of  that  simple  melody.  But  it  is  more  difficult  to  sing 
'Home,  sweet  home'  than  the  waltz  song  from  "Romeo  and  Juliet," 
because  of  its  demands  upon  the  development  of  the  voice.  Without 
the  beautiful  middle  notes  there  is  no  cantabile,  and  upon  the  proper 

i  Dictated  by  Mme.  Patti  to  William  Armstrong,  and  revised  by  her 
for  publication  in  the  Saturday  Evening  ]'i/st  (Philadelphia)  and  sub- 
sequently in  the  Christmas  number  of  the  Windsor  Magazine,  1903. 
Reprinted  here  by  kind  permission  of  the  editor  of  the  Saturday  Eve- 
ning Post. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  263 

development  of  these,  and  the  avoidance  of  strain  by  forcing  high 
and  low  notes,  the  enduring  powers  of  the  singer  depend. 

High  gymnastics  are  very  beautiful;  but,  lose  the  middle  notes, 
and  you  lose  all.  The  very  high  and  the  very  low  notes  are  the 
ornaments,  but  what  good  are  Gobelins  and  pictures  if  you  have  no 
house  to  hang  them  in1? 

The  tremolo,  one  of  the  most  objectionable  and  unbearable  of 
vocal  faults,  is  but  a  phase  of  this  forcing,  and  comes  of  the  spread- 
ing of  the  vocal  cords  through  straining. 

How  often  the  question  has  been  put  to  me:  "Mme.  Patti,  how 
high  can  you  sing?"  and  I  have  thought:  "Are  you  at  it,  too?" 
The  middle  voice  is  the  one  that  you  need  to  sing  with.  I  sing  com- 
fortably. 

If  you  want  to  sing  for  years,  do  not  strain  the  natural  compass 
of  the  voice.  That  is  like  living  on  capital.  I  have  always  lived 
within  my  income,  and  I  have  always  had  something  to  put  aside. 

The  question  of  success  or  failure  as  a  singer  is  simplified  by  self- 
judgment  and  discrimination.  Many  voices  are  not  worth  the  culti- 
vation, and  that  means  time  and  opportunities  lost.  Very  often 
students  wear  out  their  voices  with  over-study  before  they  appear 
in  public.  They  destroy  the  freshness  of  the  voice  by  singing  too 
much. 

As  to  the  length  of  time  to  be  devoted  to  study,  I  myself  do  not 
give  more  than  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  to  it  daily,  and  these  few 
minutes  I  devote  to  scales.  .  .  . 

My  golden  rule  in  singing  is  to  spare  myself  until  the  voice  is 
needed,  and  then  never  to  give  it  all  out.  Put  it  in  the  bank.  I 
do  not  push  my  voice  for  the  pleasure  of  the  moment.  If  you  are 
prodigal  of  your  powers  at  such  times,  the  next  time  you  wish  to 
be  generous  you  cannot. 

"The  true  secret  of  preserving  the  voice  is  not  to  force 
it  and  not  to  sing  when  one  ought  not  to."  We  have  seen 
how  she  broke  the  latter  half  of  her  golden  rule  when  she  sang 
for  Mr.  Kuhe  at  the  Albert  Hall;  but  she  had  naturally  for- 
gotten that  exceptional  episode  when  "dictating"  to  Mr.  Arm- 
strong fourteen  years  later,  for  to  him  she  said : 


264  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

I  nover  sang  when  I  was  not  well  enough ;  neither  did  I  sing  when 
I  was  doubtful  of  the  condition  of  my  voice.  I  simply  went  to  bed 
and  said  thai  there  was  "no  one  in."  .Managers  came,  besought, 
pleaded,  and  entreated;  but  I  was  not  well  and  I  would  not  sing. 

One  instance  I  remember  well  when  it  proved  most  difficult  to 
refuse.  The  King  of  Prussia,  later  the  German  Emperor  William  I, 
had  arranged  a  court  concert  in  which  I  was  to  sing.  Although 
everything  had  been  prepared  at  the  palace,  when  the  day  arrived 
I  did  not  feel  well,  and  refused  to  go.  To  Meyerbeer  was  given  the 
unpleasant  task  of  conveying  my  refusal.  But  the  King  did  not 
resent  it,  for  he  came  to  hear  me  when  I  next  appeared.  During 
the  performance  he  asked : 

"Miss  Patti,  what  caused  you  to  be  so  ill?" 

"Your  royal  climate,  your  Majesty,"  was  my  reply. 

In  the  matter  of  diet  and  its  relation  to  the  voice,  I  can  only  say 
that  I  have  been  able  to  eat  and  drink  in  moderation  anything  I  like. 
During  a  performance  I  do  not  take  anything,  unless  it  may  be  a 
little  chicken  soup;  nor  at  such  times  do  I  feel  like  eating.  Eating 
after  singing  I  consider  injurious,  for  one  is  then  always  more  or 
less  fatigued.  ...  I  have  always  avoided  suppers  at  home  in  the 
middle  of  the  night ;  late  suppers  disagree  with  me. 

So  far  as  denying  myself  is  concerned,  I  have  not  found  the  slight- 
est difficulty  in  giving  up  anything  that  it  is  unwise  to  indulge  in. 
At  one  time  I  dieted  for  four  years.  That  was,  however,  not  due 
to  the  demands  of  my  voice.  .  .  .  There  is  nothing  like  fresh  air  and 
exercise  for  keeping  the  voice  in  good  order. 

AVhen  a  singer  is  about  to  enter  upon  a  public  career,  there  is 
one  point  to  be  considered — that  of  fitness  for  concert  or  opera.  I 
think  if  you  can  sing  in  concert,  if  you  have  feeling  and  discern- 
ment, you  can  sing  in  opera,  though  in  my  opinion  some  who  are 
good  in  concert  are  by  no  means  lifted  for  opera.  The  operatic 
stage  demands  so  much  of  everything — voice,  knowledge  of  singing, 
and  acting.  Everything  has  to  be  calculated;  even  a  wrong  step  or 
two  during  a  phrase  will  bring  one  into  the  wings  instead  of  to 
the  front  of  the  stage.  Ease  of  movement,  dramatic  instinct  and 
feeling,  are  absolutely  necessary  to  the  opera  singer.  .  .  . 

Another  most  important  gift,  and  one  quite  indispensable  to  sue- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  265 

cess  in  opera,  is  presence  of  mind;  for  on  the  stage  it  is  always  the 
unexpected  that  happens.  In  my  early  career  I  knew  no  such  thing 
as  nervousness.  I  had  nothing  to  lose  then.  But  later  it  was  differ- 
ent. When  I  had  made  my  reputation,  I  grew  more  and  more  nerv- 
ous, for  it  is  one  thing  to  build  up  a  reputation  and  another  to  sus- 
tain it.  Not  alone  on  the  stage,  but  in  the  auditorium,  incidents 
are  continually  arising  that  demand  of  a  singer  an  absolute  self- 
control,  command  of  memory,  and  vocal  powers  in  the  face  of  dis- 
tractions and  of  danger. 

On  the  very  night  of  my  operatic  debut  something  of  this  kind 
occurred.  I  sang  the  title  part  in  Donizetti's  "Lucia,"  with  Bri- 
gnoli  as  Edgar  do.  A  man  had  hung  his  coat  carelessly  over  the  front 
of  the  gallery,  and  a  pistol  in  the  pocket  went  off  in  the  middle  of 
the  performance.  For  an  instant  everyone  stopped  still  on  the 
stage ;  then  we  went  ahead  again,  and  the  audience  was  reassured. 

Another  accident,  more  serious  in  the  possibility  of  its  conse- 
quences, happened  at  Bucharest.  A  man  had  climbed  upon  the 
irons  at  the  side  of  the  stage  to  get  sight  of  me.  He  slipped  and 
fell  on  a  poor  woman  who  was  standing  in  the  wings.  She  was 
badly  hurt,  and  her  cries  resounding  through  the  house  caused  some- 
one to  call  "Fire!"  In  an  instant  the  excitable  audience  was  in  a 
panic.  The  thought  flashed  through  my  mind  that  a  stampede  for 
the  doors  might  bring  death  to  hundreds.  "It  is  no  fire !"  I  called. 
"It  is  nothing!"  And  I  continued  singing  the  cadenza  with  flute 
accompaniment  in  "Lucia."  After  I  had  sung  a  few  bars  the  audi- 
ence was  quieted. 

Another  time,  in  Vienna,  I  was  again  singing  in  "Lucia,"  and  had 
just  begun  the  cadenza  with  the  flute,  in  the  Mad  Scene,  when  my 
long,  flimsy  sleeve  caught  fire  in  the  gas.  Without  stopping,  I  tore 
it  off  and  finished  the  aria.  But  that  time,  after  I  got  behind  the 
scenes  and  everything  was  over,  I  fainted. 

On  another  occasion,  in  San  Francisco,  a  man  threw  a  bomb, 
which  exploded  on  the  stage.  The  audience  rose  in  terror,  and,  fear- 
ing a  panic  might  ensue,  I  stepped  to  the  front  of  the  stage  and 
began  singing  "Home,  sweet  home."  The  audience  resumed  their 
seats,  and  after  a  few  bars  quiet  was  restored. 

Two   more   instances   of   Mine.    Patti's   presence   of   mind 


266  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

under  trying  circumstances  conclude  this  interesting  and 
authentic  article.  The  first  scons  to  suggest  at  least  one  dis- 
advantage due  to  her  habit  of  not  attending  rehearsals.  The 
second  does  the  same,  while  also  illustrating  her  considerate 
nature  in  not  disclosing  the  identity  of  the  unfortunate  tenor 
concerned : 

Once  I  was  singing  in  "Lucia"  with  a  tenor  as  Edgardo  whom  I 
had  never  seen.  As  Edgardo  and  his  brother  are  dressed  alike  in  the 
first  scene,  when  I  appeared  on  the  stage  I  did  not  know  which  one 
I  was  to  sing  to.  Already  my  music  was  sounding  from  the  orches- 
tra.    "Which  is  Edgardo?"  I  asked  hastily. 

"The  one  to  the  left,"  was  the  answer.  And  I  hurried  toward 
him,  singing  as  I  went. 

In  an  episode  of  a  different  description  the  opera  was  "Traviata," 
and  the  tenor  a  forgetful  one.  In  the  duet  in  the  last  act  he  sud- 
denly began  to  sing  my  part.  In  a  flash  I  had  to  take  up  his  until, 
as  suddenly,  his  memory  returned.  When  the  curtain  was  rung 
down  he  thanked  me  with  tears  in  his  eyes.  It  was  the  second  inci- 
dent of  the  kiad  that  had  happened  to  him,  and  the  first  had  not 
been  so  fortunate  for  both  singers. 

The  "longevity  of  Patti's  voice"  is  the  subject  of  some 
interesting  analysis  in  a  book  by  another  American  writer, 
Mr.  Henry  Finck,  which  appeared  some  few  years  after  the 
above  article  was  published.1  In  the  main  he  attributed  the 
so-called  "secret"  to  the  same  causes  as  did  the  singer  her- 
self. He  gives  her  no  credit,  however,  for  having  helped  to 
preserve  her  voice  by  singing  only  music  that  lay  well  within 
her  means.  On  the  contrary,  he  complains  that  there  was  a 
time  when  she  attempted  tasks  that  were  too  heavy  for  her; 
and  then  proceeds  to  defend  her  for  having — as  certain 
critics  averred — confined  herself,  "especially  in  the  last  two 
decades  of  her  stage  career,  to  the  old-fashioned  prima  donna 

i  "Success  in  Music  and  How  it  is  Won,"  by  Henry  T.  Finck.  Lon- 
don, 1910.     See  Appendix  X. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  267 

operas."  He  adds  simply,  "She  was  wise  in  doing  what  she 
could  do  best." 

The  question  is,  did  Mine.  Patti  sing  these  operas  toward 
the  end  because  she  had  only  then  recognized  her  physical 
limitations  as  an  artist,  or  because  she  desired  to  do  the  work 
that  caused  her  least  fatigue?  If  the  "two  decades"  be  cut 
down  to  one,  the  latter  reason  could  be  the  only  true  reason. 
Before  1885 — and  she  was  to  make  her  final  appearance  at 
Covent  Garden  in  1895 — she  had  not  begun  to  eliminate  any 
of  the  heavier  roles  that  had  long  been  in  her  repertoire :  for 
example,  Marguerite,  Leonora,  and  Valentino,  in  which  Mr. 
Fiuck  says  he  liked  her  less  than  many  less  famous  singers. 
She  also  continued  to  sing  for  a  time  A'ida,  Semiramide,  Juli- 
ette, and  (to  the  very  last)  Violetta,  which  belong  neither  to 
the  light  nor  heavy  but  to  the  mezzo  carattere  type  of  soprano 
parts. 

Her  ability  to  do  justice  to  such  characters  as  Valentino, 
and  Leonora  was  admitted  as  far  back  as  the  season  of  1860 
in  New  Orleans,  when  she  was  a  girl  of  seventeen.  But  she 
was  allowed  to  sing  them  very  seldom.  Mr.  Finck  may  be 
right  when  he  pays  a  higher  tribute  to  the  natural  endowments 
that  made  her  "the  Paganini  of  vocal  virtuosity" — an  ex- 
pression applied  to  her  by  Lenz — than  to  her  talents  as  a 
dramatic  singer.  He  is  right  when  he  declares  that  "she 
was  perfection  itself,  both  as  actress  and  singer,  in  light 
comic  roles."  But  he  speaks  of  "a  time  when  a  misdirected 
ambition  made  her  regard  her  specialty  almost  with  contempt 
and  aspire  to  things  that  were  beyond  her. ' '  When  was  this  ? 
The  fact  is  that  she  had  from  the  outset  loved  to  show  herself 
a  versatile  artist.  And  the  unanimous  verdict  of  the  world 
(including  New  York)  had  sufficiently  proved  the  accuracy 
of  her  estimate — bar  the  one  isolated  instance  of  Carmen. 

The  same  author  quotes  .seriously  a  half-jocular  remark 
that  Adelina,  when  a  young  woman,  once  made  to  Edward 


268  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Ilanslick.  "I  am  no  buffa,"  she  said,  tossing  her  head;  and 
when  he  praised  her  Zerlina,  she  retorted:  "I  would  rather 
sing  Donna  Anna,  and  I  shall  sing  her  yet!"  Needless  to 
say,  she  never  fulfilled  her  threat.  It  would  have  been  very 
amusing,  doubtless,  but  she  never  made  mistakes  of  that  sort. 

That  she  knew  her  own  limitations  perfectly  is  further 
shown  in  her  having  consistently  refused  to  sing  the  operas 
of  Wagner.  Some  one,  quoted  by  Mr.  Finck,  once  attributed 
to  her  what  he  rightly  terms  a  "silly  remark"  to  the  effect 
that  "she  would  sing  Wagner's  music  after  she  had  lost  her 
voice."  Of  course  she  never  can  have  said  anything  so  non- 
sensical, so  lacking  in  good  taste.  For  she  had  grown  ex- 
tremely fond  of  Wagner's  music  and  (after  her  marriage  to 
Baron  Cederstrom)  was  a  frequent  visitor  to  Bayreuth. 
Moreover,  as  we  shall  see,  she  took  the  pains  to  master  the 
music  and  German  text  of  the  song,  "Traunie,"  Elizabeth's 
"Prayer,"  and  Elsa's  "Dream,"  and  sang  the  first  two  pieces 
in  public  several  times.  But  the  operas  she  was  too  wise  ever 
to  think  of  attempting. 

One  more  point,  in  conclusion.  After  delivering  judgment 
upon  Patti  as  a  dramatic  singer,  Mr.  Finck  proceeds  to  tell 
his  readers  why  she  was  not  one:  "Her  failure  to  reach  a 
high  level  in  dramatic  roles  was  a  matter  partly  of  tempera- 
ment, partly  of  intellectual  laziness."  *  To  support  this  iso- 
lated opinion  he  has  recourse  to  her  old  friend  Arditi — Arditi, 
of  all  men,  a  rare  authority  upon  matters  of  intellect !  From 
this  source  he  gathers,  first,  that  she  did  not  marry  the  Mar- 
quis de  Caux  for  love,  and  on  that  account  presumably  had 
"no  depth  of  feeling";  secondly,  that  Arditi  had  "never  per- 
ceived in  Adelina  the  least  interest  in  the  higher  problems  of 
mankind — in  science,  politics,  religion,  not  even  in  belles  let- 
tres."2 

i  "Success  in  Music." 

2  "My  Reminiscences,"  by  Luigi  Arditi. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  269 

It  would  have  been  more  to  the  point  had  Arditi  men- 
tioned the  particular  occasions  when  he  talked  about  these 
things.  One  would  have  greatly  liked  to  be  present  when  the 
genial  conductor  started  a  discussion — at  Craig-y-Nos  or  any- 
where else — upon  such  profound  topics.  He  is  made  to  say 
in  his  book  that  "he  could  not  interest  Mine.  Patti  in  the 
lightest  of  all  forms  of  intellectual  exercise — novel-reading." 
Did  he  really  try  ?  Was  he  himself  capable  of  trying  ?  There 
were  others  who  knew  her  positively  to  be  a  voracious  reader 
of  good  fiction,  particularly  French. 

Arditi  was  much  nearer  the  mark  when  he  said  that  at  the 
period  during  which  she  was  the  wife  of  the  Marquis  de  Caux 
"she  knew  not  love,  the  'grand  passion.'  "  But  the  Patti  of 
the  next  twenty  years  was  very  different  alike  as  an  artist 
and  as  a  woman.  Few  critics,  even  in  America,  would  then 
have  confirmed  Mr.  Finek's  poor  estimate  of  her  as  a  singer 
of  dramatic  roles.  Happily,  she  knew  better  than  to  expect 
to  be  considered  a  great  tragic  artist.  She  claimed  only  to 
be  adjudged  a  versatile  and  progressive  one. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

Craig-y-Nos  and  Its  Chatelaine — Preparing  to  Entertain — Her  Annual 
Concerts  for  Local  Charities — Her  Rule  about  Singing  Gratuitously: 
I'atti's  Reasons  and  Jenny  Land's — Ceremonial  Visits  to  Swansea, 
Neath,  or  Brecon;  Municipal  and  Musical  Honors — The  New  "Patti 
Theatre";  Why  and  How  It  Was  Built — Opera  and  Pantomime  at 
Home — The  Inaugural  Festivities — A  Notable  House-Party — Personal 
Impressions  of  a  First  Visit  to  Craig-y-Nos — The  Diva  as  a  Hostess 
and  en  Famille — Her  Household  in  the  Nineties — Arditi  Superintends 
Rehearsals — Formal  Opening  of  the  Theatre — William  Terriss  "Depu- 
tizes" for  Irving — Patti  and  Nicolini  Renew  Old  Triumphs — Two 
Memorable  Operatic  Entertainments  and  a  Ball — The  Miracle  of 
Perennial  Vouthfulness 

THE  early  part  of  1891  was  uneventful.  A  concert  tour 
on  Ihe  Continent,  begun  at  Berlin,  was  to  have  filled  in 
the  January  and  February;  but,  owing  to  a  disagreement  with 
the  Russian  impresario,  it  was  not  extended  to  St.  Petersburg 
and  Moscow,  and  the  journey  had  to  be  brought  to  an  abrupt 
conclusion.  From  the  Prussian  capital  Mme.  Patti  went  di- 
rect to  Nice,  where  she  remained  until  March.  On  her  return 
she  sang  two  or  three  times  at  the  Albert  Hall,  assisted  at  one 
concert  by  the  perennial  Sims  Reeves,  whose  soft,  dark  tones 
and  smooth  legato  still  sounded  surprisingly  well  in  the  vast 
auditorium.  At  another  the  supporting  talent  comprised 
such  artists  as  Antoinette  Sterling,  Foli,  Paderewski,  Johannes 
Wolff,  and  Joseph  Hollman — a  notable  ensemble. 

Meanwhile,  at  home  in  the  pretty  castle  in  the  Swansea 
Valley,  important  events  were  preparing.  The  finishing 
touches  were  being  put  to  the  private  theatre — the  Patti  Thea- 
tre, as  it  was  to  be  called — recently  added  to  the  new  wing. 
Its  inauguration  in  the  month  of  August  was  to  be  the  occa- 

270 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  271 

sion  of  festivities  on  an  extensive  scale.  A  large  number  of 
friends  and  well-known  people  were  to  be  invited  for  the 
principal  function,  while  several  house-parties  were  to  follow. 
I  had  the  privilege  of  being  included  among  the  former ;  and 
this  was  to  be  my  first  visit  to  Craig-y-Nos  Castle.  Needless 
to  say,  my  desire  to  see  the  place  was  heightened  by  curiosity 
regarding  the  ceremonial  that  I  was  bidden  at  the  same  time 
to  attend.  Indeed,  thanks  to  the  newspapers,  a  considerable 
amount  of  public  interest  in  the  affair  had  been  aroused  be- 
forehand. 

Before  coming  to  the  incidents  connected  with  the  "open- 
ing" of  the  theatre,  we  shall  do  well  to  devote  a  few  mo- 
ments to  a  glance  at  the  conditions  that  were  now  reigning  at 
Craig-y-Nos ;  at  the  influences  they  had  wrought  in  the  home 
life — nay,  in  the  very  habits  and  customs — of  its  mistress; 
and,  most  of  all,  what  they  had  done  to  create  in  her  a  recog- 
nition of  duty  to  the  people  among  whom  she  had  cast  her 
domestic  lot. 

Truth  to  tell,  during  her  residence  in  South  Wales  Mine. 
Patti-Nicolini  had  deserved  well  of  her  neighbors.  She  had 
done  the  things  that  were  calculated  to  make  her  popular  for 
her  own  sake.  Without  entertaining  lavishly,  she  and  her 
husband  had  been  hospitable  and  had  earned  an  honorable 
name  in  the  locality  for  deeds  of  charity  and  open-handed 
generosity.  When  the  inhabitants  of  the  Swansea  Valley 
spoke  of  her,  it  was  not  merely  to  refer  to  the  renowned  singer, 
but  to  the  Lady  Bountiful  of  Craig-y-Nos — the  kind  friend 
of  all  the  folk,  great  and  small,  Avho  came  within  the  growing 
sphere  of  her  activities. 

In  a  geographical  sense,  this  remote  corner  of  the  prin- 
cipality may  be  roughly  defined  as  a  triangle,  with  the  flour- 
ishing port  of  Swansea  as  its  apex  and  the  inland  towns  of 
Neath  and  Brecon  at  the  respective  extremities  of  its  baso. 


272  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  Craig-y-Nos  estate  is  situated  rather  nearer  to  these  last 
two  places.  But  Swansea  is  only  twenty-two  miles  away, 
and  in  its  vicinity  lived  Mine.  Patti's  earliest  Welsh  friends, 
including  among  others  Sir  Hussey  Vivian,  Bt.,  M.P.,  who 
represented  the  borough  in  Parliament  until  he  became  Lord 
Swansea.  Hence  her  particular  interest  in  these  three  towns; 
and  hence  also  her  decision,  soon  after  she  came  here  to  live, 
that  she  would  give  an  annual  concert  at  each  town  in  turn, 
the  profits  of  which  should  be  devoted  to  local  charities. 

The  idea  was  new  to  her.  For  many  reasons,  the  name  of 
Patti  had  not  hitherto  been  much  identified  with  the  cause 
of  charity.  One  of  the  traits  instilled  into  her  by  the  care- 
ful training  of  Maurice  Strakosch  had  been  a  capacity  for 
refusing  to  give  her  services  for  nothing.  Early  experience 
in  Great  Britain  had  shown  that  it  was  not  advisable  for  an 
artist  who  valued  her  peace  of  mind  to  acquire  a  reputation 
for  readily  consenting  to  appear  at  benefit  entertainments. 
The  demands  made  upon  her  during  her  first  few  London 
seasons  had  been  unconscionable,  and  she  had  been  obliged  to 
make  it  a  rule  to  say  "No"  to  all  alike. 

The  drawing  of  this  hard-and-fast  line  naturally  made 
her  many  enemies.  She  was  accused  of  being  uncharitable 
and  devoid  of  generous  feeling;  which  was  unjust,  because  it 
was  untrue,  as  she  abundantly  proved  in  after  years.  What 
alternative  was  there  for  a  young  prima  donna  who  was  a 
popular  idol,  seeing  that  consent  in  a  solitary  instance  would 
have  involved  consent  in  hundreds  of  cases?  She  was  not 
only  perfectly  within  her  right,  but,  at  the  time  Strakosch 
established  the  rule  for  her,  it  was  undoubtedly  a  wise  and 
proper  course  to  pursue. 

As  a  matter  of  fact,  long  before  the  Great  War  came  to 
impose  its  special  needs,  the  custom  of  calling  upon  musical 
and  dramatic  celebrities  to  work  in  aid  of  public  charities 
had  been  overdone  to  a  lamentable  extent.     Singers  used  to 


[2 

: 


■j. 


X. 

I 

o 

a: 
o 


THE  EEIGN  OF  PATTI  273 

be  invariably  paid,  and  well  paid,  for  their  services  at  pro- 
vincial festivals;  but  a  good  percentage  of  the  thousands  of 
pounds  that  they  earned  for  other  "benefit"  undertakings 
was  virtually  extracted  from  their  pockets. 

This  many  of  them  did  not  mind.  The  case  of  Jenny  Lind 
naturally  occurs  to  memory.  It  should  not  be  forgotten,  how- 
ever, that  it  was  in  the  latter  part  of  her  meteorir  public 
career  that  the  great  Swedish  artist  so  generously  devoted  her 
energies  to  singing  on  behalf  of  deserving  charities — notably 
those  in  which  she  was  directly  interested  or  that  bore  her 
name.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  admirable.  Neverthe- 
less, her  noble  example  ought  not  to  have  constituted  a  re- 
proach for  every  successful  artist  who  failed  to  imitate  it.  If 
it  did  so  for  many  years  in  regard  to  Adelina  Patti,  it  was 
because  people  did  not  stop  to  consider  that  at  the  time  the 
circumstances  in  which  she  was  placed  were  altogether  excep- 
tional. Besides,  she  was  a  much  younger  woman  than  Mme. 
Jenny  Lind-Goldschmidt. 

After  she  had  lived  a  short  time  in  Wales,  Mme.  Patti 's 
ideas  on  this  subject  began  to  undergo  modification.  Some 
one  suggested  to  her  that  it  might  be  the  right  thing  to  organ- 
ize an  occasional  concert  of  her  own — engaging  the  hall  and 
paying  the  other  artists  herself — on  behalf  of  one  of  the 
local  charities.  Accordingly,  in  1882  the  experiment  was  tried 
at  Swansea,  and  proved  an  immense  success,  the  handsome 
sum  of  £830  being  realized  for  the  funds  of  the  Swansea  Gen- 
eral Hospital.  South  Wales  was  duly  grateful,  while  the  rest 
of  the  country  approved  with  a  polite  "Better  late  than 
never ! " x 

i  See  Appendix  Y,  an  article  describing  how  these  affairs  were  started, 
from  the  Cambrian  of  August  15,  1884.  The  local  historian  recounts 
his  story  with  truly  Welsh  picturesque  fervor  and  no  little  humor. 
He  depicts  in  accurate  fashion  the  hesitancy  that  was  felt  on  one  hand 
by  the  new  tenant  of  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  and,  on  the  other,  by  the  good 


274  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Once  started,  the  concerts  were  given  with  tolerable  regu- 
larity— in  alternate  years  at  Swansea  and  Neath,  also  occa- 
sionally at  Brecon.  The  net  profits  amounted  on  an  average 
to  E700  or  £81)0,  and  various  institutions  benefited  in  turn: 
the  Swansea  Hospital,  the  Brecon  Infirmary,  the  Rest  Con- 
valescent Home  for  the  Poor  at  Porthcawl,  the  Patti  Poor 
Funds  at  Neath  and  Brecon,  etc. 

A  royal  visit  could  not  have  been  attended  with  greater 
ceremony  than  marked  the  arrival  and  departure  of  Mine. 
Patti  and  Signor  Nicolini  on  these  occasions.  The  town  would 
be  decorated  with  flags  and  a  holiday  proclaimed.  Crowds 
would  line  the  streets  and  bestow  an  enthusiastic  welcome 
upon  the  radiant  diva  as  she  drove  (sometimes  with  military 
escort)  to  and  from  the  railway  station.  The  Mayor  and 
Corporation,  accompanied  (for  several  years)  by  Sir  Hussey 
Vivian,  met  her  in  each  town  and  presented  an  address  in 
orthodox  civic  fashion.  Generally,  too,  there  was  a  public 
luncheon  before  the  concert  (which  the  singers,  of  course, 
dared  not  thoroughly  enjoy),  at  which  speeches  were  deliv- 
ered that  brimmed  over  with  touching  sentiment.  Then  there 
was  the  vote  of  thanks  at  the  close  of  the  concert,  usually  pro- 
posed (at  Swansea)  by  Sir  Hussey,  an  adept  at  turning  neat 
compliments,  and  responded  to  on  behalf  of  Mme.  Patti  and 
her  husband  (who  would  consent  to  sing,  but  not  to  speak) 
by  either  Mr.  Augustus  Spalding  or  Mr.  Wilhelm  Ganz,  the 
latter  of  whom  for  many  years  arranged  the  programmes  and 
played  the  accompaniments. 

Thus,  for  close  upon  a  decade,  the  petted  songstress  of  the 
Old  and  New  AVorlds  had  been  spending  the  happiest  moments 
of  her  existence  within  the  confines  of  that  remote  bower 
whither  she  had  erstwhile  repaired  for  quiet  and  repose.     By 

people   of   (;iamor£anshire,   prior   to   the   breaking   of   the   ice   and    the 
establishment  of  "friendly  relations." 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  275 

degrees  the  well-guarded  and  almost  inaccessible  diva  had 
become  accustomed  to  descending,  as  she  set  foot  here,  from 
her  lofty  eminence  in  the  realms  of  opera  until  she  had  be- 
come transformed  into  the  simple  country  dame.  As  such, 
or  rather  as  a  novel  and  delightful  combination  of  hostess  and 
artist,  was  she  to  present  herself  to  the  friends  who  came  at 
her  bidding, — most  of  them,  like  the  writer,  for  the  first  time, 
— penetrating  the  interior  of  the  shrine  that  was  now  her 
pleasure  and  her  pride. 

Obviously  the  new  theatre  was  its  chief  jewel.  She  had 
taken  the  utmost  pains  to  have  it  made,  internally  at  least, 
a  thing  of  beauty;  she  had  not  spared  money  over  the  audi- 
torium and  the  stage,  albeit  the  extreme  plainness  of  its  ex- 
terior might  bear  comparison  on  a  small  scale  with  that  no- 
toriously ugly  edifice,  the  Bayreuth  Theatre.  However,  it 
did  not,  like  the  Wagner  temple,  stand  alone  upon  an  exposed 
acclivity.  It  formed  part  of  the  castle  building,  which  itself 
could  lay  no  special  claim  to  architectural  beauty;  and  one 
only  noticed  it  as  a  squat  and  substantial  portion  of  what 
we  now  knew  as  the  "new  wing."  It  had  been  designed  by 
a  local  architect  and  erected  by  a  Swansea  builder. 

Oblong  in  shape  and  capable  of  seating  about  three  hun- 
dred people,  the  auditorium  at  once  struck  the  spectator  as 
cosy  and  comfortable.  The  decorative  scheme  was  simple  but 
attractive.  The  walls  were  divided  into  arabesqued  panels 
of  pale  blue,  cream,  and  gold  between  fluted  pillars  in  similar 
coloring,  the  whole  effect  being  extremely  light  and  delicate. 
The  orchestra  "pit,"  which  would  hold  about  twenty  per- 
formers, could  when  necessary  be  raised  to  the  height  of  the 
floor.  The  entire  floor,  again,  could  also  be  raised  by  me- 
chanical means  from  its  slight  gradient,  or  "rake,"  until 
entirely  level,  the  whole  auditorium  being  thus  converted  into 
a  handsome  ball-room.  The  stage  was  of  fair  size  and  fitted 
with  the  latest   appliances  for  lighting  and   scene-shifting. 


276  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

The  acoustics  were  excellent,  and   from  the  gallery  at  the 
back  one  could  see  and  hear  everything  to  perfection. 

Such  was  the  bijou  theatre  that  the  illustrious  opera-singer 
had  added  to  the  many  luxuries  of  her  Welsh  dwelling,  and 
which  was  to  constitute  so  prominent  and  enjoyable  a  feature 
in  the  home  existence  of  her  declining  years.  A  plaything? 
No,  not  by  any  means;  it  was  a  good  deal  more  than  that. 
It  was  to  replace  something  that  the  artist — still  bubbling 
over  with  the  active  spirit  and  physical  energy  of  a  juvenility 
which  her  looks  did  not  belie — now  felt  to  be  gradually  slip- 
ping from  her  grasp.  That  something  was  opera — her  beloved 
scene  lyrique — the  real  theatre  whose  boards  she  had  lightly 
and  joyfully  trodden  for  thirty  years.  She  could  not  bear 
to  let  it  go  out  of  her  life. 

A  plaything?  No.  When  a  child  of  four  or  five  she  had 
loved  her  dolls  with  an  ardent  devotion  that  well-nigh  pat- 
terned the  maternal.  That  early  passion  had  endured  long 
after  the  little  girl  was  earning  the  family  living ;  long  after 
she  had  reached  her  teens;  nay,  after  she  had  actually  at- 
tained womanhood.  But  there  were  two  things  for  which  the 
child  would  always  gladly  leave  her  dolls.  One  was  to  "dress 
up"  and  play  at  acting;  the  other,  to  go  to  the  opera — to  the 
theatre  where  artists  acted  as  well  as  sang. 

"I  am  never  so  happy,"  she  once  said  to  me,  "as  when  I 
am  on  the  stage.  It  is  then  that  I  feel  the  truest  and  strong- 
est inspiration.  It  is  then  that  I  give  of  my  best.  Not 
merely  because  of  the  freedom  to  couple  action  and  move- 
ment with  my  singing,  but  because  of  the  thought  that  I  am 
depicting  personages,  incidents,  emotions,  all  of  which  I  can 
supplement  with  facial  look  and  gesture. 

"I  love  the  art  of  pantomime.  I  love  to  go  through  a 
scene  and  represent  a  character  where  there  is  neither  sing- 
ing nor  speaking;  only  to  feel  and  understand  what  I  have 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  277 

to  express,  and  carry  it  out  by  sheer  acting,  that  is,  with 
attitude,  geste,  glance  of  the  eye,  pointing  of  the  hand  or  a 
finger.  I  can  do  that  without  using  my  voice,  and  yet  I  can 
still  have  music  to  aid  and  inspire  me.  For  pantomime  car- 
ried on  without  music  means  nothing;  you  cannot  separate 
one  from  the  other." 

Here,  when  all  was  said  and  done,  emerged  the  true  rea- 
son for  the  existence  of  the  new  theatre.  Not  a  plaything 
was  it  to  be,  but  a  hobby ;  and  a  very  artistic  one.  It  would 
have  been  easy  enough  for  Mme.  Patti  to  cling  to  her  stage 
work  all  through  this  period,  had  she  desired.  In  London 
the  renascence  of  opera  under  Augustus  Harris  had  already 
started  with  the  Covent  Garden  season  of  1888.  The  lead- 
ing capitals  of  Europe  were  ever  ready  to  welcome  her  the 
moment  she  cared  to  say  the  word.  It  would  be  only  a  ques- 
tion of  terms. 

But  on  that  very  question  obstacles  would  have  arisen; 
for  the  diva,  much  as  she  loved  the  stage,  was  growing  tired 
of  the  strenuous  labor  of  operatic  life,  and  she  felt  no  induce- 
ment to  reduce  her  fees  to  the  old  European  level.  Not  an 
impresario  among  them  would  venture  to  offer  her  the  cachet 
that  she  received  from  Mr.  Percy  Harrison  or  Mr.  Kuhe  for 
singing  three  airs  and  as  many  encores  at  a  concert. 

She  preferred,  therefore,  to  accept  easy  and  lucrative  en- 
gagements like  these,  with  perhaps  one  or  two  more  visits  to 
America,  should  opportunity  occur.  But  henceforth  the  only 
theatre  she  would  take  delight  in  would  be  her  own,  where 
she  could  select  her  own  piece  and  her  own  public,  where  she 
could  be  her  own  intendant,  impresa,  prima  donna  assoluta, 
and  premiere  mime,  all  in  one ! 

I  arrived  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  four  days  before  the  in- 
augural performance,  which  had  been  fixed  for  August  12, 
1891.     The  house-party  had  already  begun  to  assemble,  and 


278  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

comprised  some  notable  people.  Among  them  were  the  then 
Spanish  Ambassador,  Insult's  Sir  Hussey  and  Lady  Vivian, 
Baron  and  Baroness  Julius  de  Reuter,  Mr.  Edward  Lawson 
(afterwards  Sir  Edward  and  later  still  the  first  Lord  Burn- 
ham),  the  Comte  de  Lille.  Mr.  Augustus  Spalding,  Mr.  Wil- 
liam Beatty  Kingston  (of  the  Daily  Telegraph),  M.  Thomas 
Johnson  (of  Le  Figaro),  Signor  and  lime.  Arditi,  three  or 
four  operatic  artists,  Mr.  Percy  Harrison,  and  other  friends. 
On  the  eve  of  the  12th  the  castle  was  as  packed  as  a  grouse 
shooting-box  on  one  of  the  neighboring  moors.  Its  sleeping 
accommodation  was  so  overtaxed  that  the  dressing-rooms  be- 
hind the  theatre  had  been  turned  into  bedrooms. 

There  were  two  disappointments.  Mr.  Alfred  de  Rothschild 
was  unable  to  come,  and  Henry  Irving  could  not  keep  his 
promise  to  deliver  the  inaugural  address  and  declare  the 
theatre  open.  The  eminent  tragedian  had,  however,  asked  his 
popular  jeune  premier,  William  Terriss,  to  come  in  his  stead; 
and  a  hearty  welcome  awaited  the  cheery  actor,  whose  prema- 
ture death  at  the  hand  of  a  cowardly  assassin  we  were  soon 
afterward  to  deplore.  The  long  address  had  been  written  by 
Beatty  Kingston.  How  poor  Terriss  arrived  only  a  couple 
of  hours  before  it  was  to  be  delivered,  without  knowing  a 
word  of  it,  and  how  he  mastered  every  line  with  astounding 
rapidity — a  prodigious  feat  of  memory,  in  fact — shall  be  duly 
related. 

Before  dealing  with  the  premiere  itself,  let  me  here  set 
down  a  few  impressions  of  this  now  historical  place  as  it 
struck  me  on  the  occasion  of  my  interesting  initial  visit.  To 
begin  with,  there  was  the  extreme  difficulty  of  getting  there. 
Journeying  from  Paddington  to  the  Swansea  Valley  by  way 
of  Neath,  over  three  lines  of  railway,  not  only  took  best  part 
of  a  day,  but  evidently  meant,  as  a  regular  tiling,  arriving  at 
the  castle  late  for  dinner.     Yet,  curiously  enough,  I  was  to 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  279 

note  that  the  host  and  hostess  were  invariably  less  surprised 
by  the  unpunctual  advent  of  their  guests  than  if  they  hap- 
pened to  dwell  with  any  emphasis  upon  the  tediousness  or 
fatigue  of  the  journey.  The  simple  explanation  of  this  was 
that  Mme.  Patti  herself  travelled  to  and  from  town  either  by 
special  train  or  in  a  through  saloon  carriage.  It  probably 
never  occurred  to  her  that  the  Swansea  Valley  was  an  awk- 
ward place  to  get  to — for  people  making  the  trip  under  less 
favorable  conditions. 

But  one  quickly  forgot  the  inconveniences  of  the  journey 
after  alighting  at  the  little  Penwyllt  station  which  stood 
perched  almost  above  the  Craig-y-Nos.  One  felt  at  once,  so 
to  speak,  in  the  domain  of  the  diva  herself.  On  the  arrival 
platform  was  her  private  waiting-room,  erected  by  the  rail- 
way company  with  as  much  solid  material  as  if  it  had  been 
intended  for  Queen  Victoria  and  her  successors.  Outside  the 
station  began  Mme.  Patti 's  own  private  road,  cut  into  the  steep 
hillside  at  a  gentle  gradient,  and  leading  down  into  the  broad 
Swansea  Valley,  where  it  joined  the  regular  highway  winding 
up  from  the  village  of  Ystradgynlais  to  the  castle  and  thence 
on  to  Brecon. 

The  view  from  the  top  at  Penwyllt  is  really  charming. 
Hills  and  moorland  stretch  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  and 
just  below,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  valley,  one  perceives 
the  castle  in  its  grounds,  looking  white  and  cool  in  the  hot 
August  sun,  a  veritable  oasis  in  the  desert.  I  was  one  of  a 
contingent  of  guests  from  London,  and  carriages  had  been 
sent  to  meet  us.  We  arrived  just  as  the  gong  was  sounding 
for  dinner.  A  rush,  a  hurried  change,  and  almost  before  I 
could  realize  it  I  was  seated  beside  my  hostess  at  a  long  table 
in  the  huge  conservatory  which,  in  the  summer,  was  used  as  a 
dining-room.  With  its  innumerable  electric  lights  and  its 
background  of  lofty  palms,  it  presented  a  scene  of  extraor- 
dinary beauty 


280  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Vividly  do  I  recall  the  picture  of  Mme.  Patti  herself  at 
the  head  of  the  table,  looking  astonishingly  youthful  and 
svelte  in  a  Parisian  gown  of  blue  and  white,  just  received 
from  Worth  or  Doucet.  Her  rippling  laugh  was  rarely  un- 
heard, her  abundant  flow  of  talk  in  four  languages  the  life  and 
soul  of  the  conversation.  Every  now  and  then  she  would 
address  a  remark  in  French,  with  well-nigh  ventriloquial 
skill,  to  the  other  end  of  the  table. 

"Ecoute  done,  Ernest,"  or  "Entcnds-tu,  mon  ami?"  And 
back  would  come  the  reply,  ''Out,  ma  mignonne,"  in  the 
resonant  tenor  notes  of  Nicolini,  busy  with  some  Italian  dish 
or  emptying  his  own  particular  bottle  of  his  own  special 
brand  of  champagne.  And  so  the  gorgeous  Gargantuan  meal 
went  on  for  the  best  part  of  a  couple  of  hours. 

This  banquet  was  the  beginning  of  a  series  of  feasts  that 
was  to  last  for  days.  The  hospitality  of  Craig-y-Nos  Castle 
was  already  a  by- word  in  the  principality.  (It  reached  its 
climax  that  summer.  Seven  years  later  it  had  ceased  to 
exist.)  Mme.  Patti's  chef  was  a  genuine  cordon  bleu,  and 
her  excellent  butler  was  for  the  time  being  assisted  by  extra 
footmen.  Additional  carriages  and  horses  had  been  brought 
over  from  Swansea. 

"When  dinner  was  over,  the  men  did  not  remain  at  the 
table,  but  escorted  their  ladies  in  procession  through  the 
morning-room  and  hall  of  the  old  house  to  the  new  wing,  and 
on  through  the  big  winter  dining-room  to  the  French  billiard- 
room.  Here  our  merry  hostess  seated  herself  on  one  of  the 
raised  leather-cushioned  bancs,  surrounded  by  her  feminine 
guests,  and,  while  coffee  was  being  served,  listened  to  the 
orchestrion  in  its  pleasing  execution  of  her  and  her  husband's 
favorite  "rolls."  The  manipulation  of  the  instrument  was 
Xieolini's  special  duty;  he  jealously  reserved  it,  in  fact,  for 
himself,  as  if  no  one  else  could  be  trusted  to  put  on  or  take 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  281 

off  a  roll.  He  was  now  no  longer  a  smoker,  but  knew  well 
the  qualities  of  the  different  brands  of  cigars  stocked  in  his 
cabinet ;  and  happily  he  always  took  care  that  I  should  have 
one  of  his  "Alfred  de  Rothschilds." 

Now  was  the  moment  when  plans  for  the  following  day 
were  to  be  talked  over,  when  arrangements  for  final  stage  re- 
hearsals were  discussed.  Maestro  Arditi  was  called  to  the 
front. 

"Caro  Luigi,"  cried  the  gracious  Adelina,  "do  you  want 
me  to-morrow  ? ' ' 

"I  t'ink  is  better,"  smiled  Arditi.  "Veramente  I  like  you 
rehearse  twice,  if  is  possible.  I  want  'Traviata'  before  lunch, 
'Faust'  after  lunch.  E-e-eh?"  The  sly  old  conductor  was 
laughing  inwardly.  He  knew  he  could  make  her  do  here  some- 
thing that  in  an  ordinary  opera  house  she  would  not  have 
done  for  a  thousand  pounds.     She  pretended  to  hesitate. 

"Mais  ga,  c'est  terrible!     And  with  piano  only?" 

"You  know  my  orchestra  he  not  come  from  Swansea  till 
nex'  day;  Mr.  Hulley  he  bring  'eem  with  the  chorus.  Domani 
is  principals;  e  senza  di  te  non  va!"  This  with  an  indescrib- 
able imploring  grimace. 

"Very  well;  I  suppose  I  must.  C'est  entendu.  And  now 
let  us  all  go  and  look  at  the  theatre. 

She  led  the  way  by  a  short  corridor  that  went  direct  from 
the  billiard-room  to  the  narrow  vestibule  of  the  new  structure, 
access  to  which  was  also  available  by  an  entrance  from  the 
outer  quadrangle  of  the  castle.  The  corridor  continued  on  to 
the  dressing-rooms  at  the  back  of  the  stage;  but  to  the  left 
about  half-way  was  a  door  that  opened  direct  into  the  audi- 
torium, now  brilliantly  lighted  as  if  for  a  performance. 

It  looked  wonderfully  pretty — very  spick  and  span,  of 
course,  as  if  just  lifted  out  of  a  bandbox,  but  quite  har- 
monious with  its  color  scheme  of  pale  blue,  white,  and  gold. 
The  act  drop  was  down.     It  was  a  miniature  masterpiece 


LN12  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

from  the  brush  of  Hawes  Craven,  the  central  figure  an  Ama- 
zonian personage  in  a  Roman  chariot  driving  a  pair  of  fiery 
steeds.  The  costume,  however,  was  that  of  S  emir  amide,  and 
the  face  an  excellent  likeness  of  Mme.  Patti  herself. 

I  glanced  at  the  original.  She  looked  proud  and  happy, 
and  I  told  her  she  had  good  reason  to  feel  so.  A  private 
theatre  on  such  a  scale  was  unique — something  that  the  Queen 
of  England  herself  did  not  possess. 

"I  am  so  glad  you  like  it.''  she  said.  "It  has  been  a  great 
pleasure  to  build  it ;  but  the  best  is  now  to  come.  I  know 
how  I  shall  enjoy  singing  and  acting  in  it  for  my  friends. 
I  wish  it  were  already  the  day  after  to-morrow."  (This  was 
Monday.  The  opening  was  fixed  for  the  Wednesday.)  And 
she  clapped  her  hands  in  joyful  anticipation,  just  like  an  im- 
patient child;  which  was  precisely  what  Adelina  Patti  most 
resembled  at  that  particular  moment. 

No  one  was  supposed  to  go  into  the  theatre  during  the 
rehearsals,  but  on  the  second  day  I  contrived  to  obtain  ad- 
mission as  a  privileged  person,  though  for  a  few  minutes  only. 
I  found  every  one  taking  the  work  an  grand  strieux.  Arditi 
was  as  solemn  as  if  he  were  at  Covent  Garden,  Nicolini  per- 
haps even  more  so.     The  others  followed  suit. 

Mme.  Patti  entered  into  the  spirit  of  the  thing  with  the 
greater  zest  because  until  now  the  tedious  and  hard  work  of 
rehearsing  had  been  so  completely  unknown  to  her.  Now,  of 
course,  it  was  a  labor  of  love.  The  traditional  "business" 
of  scenes  from  "Traviata"  and  "Faust"  might  be  old  as  the 
hills,  but  the  experience  of  trying  it  over  on  one's  own 
stage,  under  one's  own  roof,  was  delightfully  new.  A  few 
days  later  she  was  to  find  it  still  more  fascinating,  for  then 
strange  parts  and  an  unaccustomed  art  had  to  be  studied. 
Then,  in  her  estimation,  rehearsals  became  the  most  enjoy- 
able feature  of  the  proceedings. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  283 

Meanwhile  the  remainder  of  the  house-party  were  rapidly- 
arriving,  and  Tuesday  was  a  day  of  busy  preparation.  The 
Spanish  Ambassador  proved  to  be  a  courteous  and  amiable 
gentleman.  He  was  guilty  of  one  charming  piece  of  flattery. 
Naturally,  he  claimed  the  diva  as  his  compatriot.  She  ad- 
mitted the  soft  impeachment,  then  asked  him,  "But  don't 
you  think  I  should  have  been  exactly  like  I  am,  wherever  I 
was  born?"  Said  his  Excellency  in  reply:  "You  might 
have  been  an  equally  great  singer,  but  you  would  not  have 
been  the  same  grande  dame  d'Espagne." 

Mr.  Edward  Lawson,  always  the  essence  of  bonhomie,  was 
there  as  one  of  her  oldest  friends,  and  anxious  only  on  one 
point — the  difficulty  of  transmitting  in  good  time  a  worthy 
account  of  the  opening  performance  to  his  paper,  the  Daily 
Telegraph.  It  was  to  be  written  by  Beatty  Kingston,  which 
insured  a  notice  of  "heavenly  length,"  bristling  with  any 
quantity  of  flowery  adjectives.  But  the  nearest  telegraph 
office  was  at  Ystradgynlais,  a  village  several  miles  away,  and 
every  message  to  or  from  that  office  had  to  be  sent  over  a 
defective  telephone  of  the  early  days,  situated  in  a  small 
room  on  the  first  floor  of  the  castle.  Nevertheless,  when  the 
time  came,  I  managed  to  get  it  through,  and  the  proprietor 
of  the  Daily  Telegraph  was  very  grateful.  I  took  good  care, 
however,  to  get  off  my  own  notice  to  the  Manchester  Guardian 
first,  so  as  not  to  block  the  line  for  the  London  message.1 

William  Terriss  arrived  on  the  12th  soon  after  tea,  and 
at  once  set  to  work  to  memorize  the  address  already  referred 
to.  As  a  very  old  friend  my  services  were  requisitioned  by 
him  as  prompter.  We  went  together  to  his  room,  and  he 
gave  me  an  object-lesson  in  the  art  of  "quick  study."  He 
took  one  copy  of  the  address;  I  took  another.  He  read  it 
through  to  me;  I  read  it  through  to  him.     He  began  repeat- 

1  My  article  for  the  Sunday  Times  (see  Appendix  Z)  went  later  by 
post. 


284  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

ing  sentences  by  heart;  I  prompted  him  and  corrected  mis- 
takes. In  about  three  quarters  of  an  hour  he  was  word- 
perfect.  At  night,  as  the  actors  say,  he  may  have  been  nerv- 
ous; but  he  made  only  one  or  two  tiny  slips,  and  those  were 
not  observed  even  by  the  quizzical  author  of  the  address. 

When  he  came  before  the  plush  tableau  curtains,  Terriss 
found  himself  face  to  face  with  a  strange  audience  and  in  an 
atmosphere  of  suppressed  excitement.  One  could  have  heard 
a  pin  drop.  Poor  fellow,  he  would  have  preferred  to  con- 
front an  agitated  Drury  Lane  crowd  or  a  seething  Adelphi 
pit  rather  than  this  select  gathering  of  Mme.  Patti's  friends — 
residents,  most  of  them,  from  the  Swansea  Valley  and  places 
within  a  radius  of  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles.  Behind  the 
curtain,  too,  the  entire  company  had  assembled,  with  the  ra- 
diant Violetta  herself  at  their  head,  to  listen  to  the  delivery 
of  the  lines  that  were,  so  to  speak,  to  set  the  machinery  in 
motion.  Indeed,  an  air  of  impatient  expectancy  reigned 
everywhere.  Greater  anxiety  that  the  representation  should 
go  without  a  hitch  could  not  have  been  manifested  at  Covent 
Garden  on  a  gala  night. 

Amid  the  hush  that  succeeded  a  rapturous  welcome,  William 
Terriss  spoke  as  follows: 

"Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  stand  here  as  the  humble  and 
inadequate  representative  of  the  first  of  living  English  actors. 
It  had  been  the  intention  of  Mr.  Henry  Irving  to  signalize 
his  appreciation  of  Mme.  Adelina  Patti's  transcendent  talent 
as  singer  and  actress,  and  to  mark  his  strong  sense  of  the 
close  alliance  connecting  the  musical  and  dramatic  arts,  by 
speaking  a  few  inaugural  words  on  this  occasion — one  that  is 
unique  in  operatic  and  theatrical  annals  alike.  For  we  are 
met  here  to  be  present  at  an  initial  performance  held  in 
a  theatre  which,  at  the  generous  behest  of  the  Queen  of  Song, 
has  been  erected  and  provided  with  every  mechanical  appli- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  285 

ance  perfected  by  modern  science  in  the  very  heart  of  a  wild 
Welsh  valley,  teeming  with  the  beauties  of  nature,  but  remote 
from  the  busy  haunts  of  men. 

"As  far  as  Mr.  Irving  is  concerned,  circumstances  have  in- 
tervened rendering  his  personal  participation  in  to-night's 
celebration  impracticable.  He  has,  however,  empowered  me 
to  act  as  his  envoy,  and  I  have  been  accepted  in  that  char- 
acter for  the  performance  of  this  agreeable  and  sympathetic 
duty  by  our  gracious  and  gifted  hostess,  the  chatelaine  of 
Craig-y-Nos — the  good  fairy  who  haunts  the  "Rock  of  the 
Night" — the  true  friend  of  the  poor,  whose  benefactions  have 
for  a  dozen  years  past  ripened  unnumbered  throughout  the 
length  and  breadth  of  this  picturesque  region. 

"In  this  beautiful  theatre,  dedicated  to  the  allied  arts  and 
adorned  with  the  counterfeit  presentments  of  great  musicians 
and  dramatists,  you  will  this  evening  be  privileged  to  listen 
to  that  incomparable  voice  which  ever  binds  its  hearers  in  a 
spell  of  wonder  and  delight.  I  will  not  retard  your  supreme 
enjoyment  by  further  dilating  on  the  attractions  of  that  which 
you  have  eyes  to  see  and  ears  to  hear,  but  will  conclude  my 
grateful  task  by  declaring  the  Patti  Theatre  open  for  the  late 
summer  season  of  1891." 

When  William  Terriss  had  retired,  amid  renewed  applause, 
Signor  Arditi  at  once  raised  his  baton,  and  the  capital  little 
orchestra  from  Swansea  gave  out  the  delicate  violin  passage 
that  starts  the  most  touching  and  pathetic  of  all  Verdi's  pre- 
ludes.    This  was  the  programme : 

LA  T  RAVI  AT  A— Act  I. 

Violetta  Valery Mme.  Adelina  Patti-Nicolini. 

Alfredo  Germont Mr.  Durward  Lely. 

Flora  Bervoix Miss  Ellen  Flynn. 


286  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Gastone Mr.  Reginald  Brophy. 

Marchese Mr.  Edwin  Ball. 

Barone Mr.  E.  Jones. 

Chorus:     St.  David's  Amateur  Operatic   Society. 
Entr'acte,  Morceau  a  la  Gavotte,  "L'Ingenue"  (Arditi). 

FAUST— Act  III   (Garden  Scene). 

Faust Signor  Nicolini. 

Mephistopheles Signor  Novara. 

Margherita Mme.  A  del  in  a  Patti-Nicolini. 

Siebel  


"God  Save  the  Queen." 


,-Mme.  Giulia  Valda 
Marta 


It  was  a  performance  replete  with  singular  interest.  Not 
on  account  of  any  remarkable  merit  in  the  ensemble,  nor  even 
such  value  as  would  have  attached  to  the  rendering  of  an  en- 
tire opera.  But  simply  on  account  of  the  locale  and  the 
presence  and  cooperation  of  the  artist  who  was  its  "bright 
particular  star."  It  was  merely  a  spectacle  coupe  on  a  small 
scale;  but  its  very  intimite — to  employ  the  expressive  French 
word — lent  a  novel  charm  to  this  manifestation  of  a  genius 
that  had  hitherto  unfolded  its  powers  exclusively  for  paying 
multitudes.  It  was  therefore  an  entirely  new  experience, 
and  at  the  time,  I  admit,  rather  hard  to  appraise  in  its  full 
significance. 

The  old  opera  habitue,  Augustus  Spalding,  was  sitting  next 
me.  During  our  chat  between  the  acts  he  spoke  a  true  word : 
"She  will  think  more  of  the  applause  of  her  friends  to-night 
than  she  ever  thought  of  that  which  she  received  in  the  opera 
house. ' ' 

I  asked  him,  "Do  you  think  she  has  ceased  to  care  for  pub- 
lic applause?" 

I  don't  believe  she  ever  set  great  store  upon  it.     She  has 


n 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  287 

taken  it  as  a  matter  of  course.  The  adulation  and  cheers 
of  the  people  have  been  ringing  in  her  ears  ever  since  she 
can  remember.  It  was  not  for  lack  of  applause  that  she  put 
up  this  theatre.  Having  the  secret  of  eternal  youth,  she 
wants  to  go  on  enjoying  her  art  in  her  own  fashion.  She  is 
anxious  now  to  please  her  friends.  She  believes  their  admira- 
tion to  be  genuine  and  it  is  dear  to  her  because  she  is  per- 
sonally acquainted  with  the  owner  of  every  pair  of  hands  that 
is  clapping  her." 

If  it  be  true  that  applause  is  "the  breath  of  life  to  the 
artist,"  we  had  no  farther  to  seek  for  an  explanation  of 
the  evergreen  youthfulness  of  the  Violetta  who  had  just  re- 
ceived her  stage  guests  in  the  first  act  of  "La  Traviata."  The 
comparatively  tiny  stage  did  not  seem  to  hamper  her  move- 
ments. One  noticed  the  same  freedom,  the  same  elan,  as  of 
yore,  and  not  a  trace  of  the  make-believe  that  usually  de- 
stroys all  sense  of  illusion  in  drawing-room  theatricals.  The 
amateurs  of  the  St.  David's  Operatic  Society  interested  her 
rather  more,  apparently,  than  the  average  semicircle  of  Co- 
vent  Garden  choristers.  As  for  her  voice,  it  sounded  su- 
premely beautiful  in  the  little  auditorium.  I  never  heard  her 
sing  "Ah!  fors'  e  lui"  with  more  dazzling  brilliancy  or 
greater  aplomb.  The  long-sustained  trill  on  the  G-A  flat  dur- 
ing the  exit  at  the  end  was  as  birdlike  as  ever. 

The  scene  from  "Faust"  went  even  better,  as  might  have 
been  expected  with  such  an  experienced  quartet.  Nicolini 
looked  surprisingly  picturesque,  romantic,  and  lover-like.  He 
still  sang  like  an  accomplished  artist,  too,  though  his  voice  was 
growing  harder  and  his  vibrato  more  pronounced.  The  Eng- 
lish basso,  Frank  Novara,  made  an  excellent  Mephistopheles  ; 
and  the  American  Mme.  Valda  probably  created  a  record  (for 
the  stage)  by  doubling  the  parts  of  Siebel  and  Martha.  The 
Garden  Scene  was,  by  the  way,  a  replica  of  the  "set"  painted 


288  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

for  Irving 's  Lyceum  production  of  Wills 's  "Faust."  Arditi 
did  wonders  with  the  Swansea  orchestra ;  and  the  stage  light- 
ing was  deftly  managed  by  Frank  Rigo,  who  was  destined  to 
act  as  regisseur  at  the  castle  for  many  years. 

But  the  miracle  that  overshadowed  all  else  was  the  sweet, 
virginal  Marguerite  of  the  singer  of  forty-eight  summers,  who 
could  cheat  us  into  the  belief  that  she  was  still  the  girl  de- 
picted by  Goethe.  I  wrote  at  the  time :  "It  was  the  triumph 
of  the  night  which  might  have  been  easiest  foretold.  Her 
white  Gretchen  costume  became  her  to  perfection,  and  she 
made  a  delicious  picture  as  she  sat  spinning  at  her  wheel 
and  warbling  the  'King  of  Thule'  with  the  greatest  imaginable 
poetic  feeling."  More  than  once  one  had  the  impression  that 
the  whole  thing  was  a  dream.  Could  this  truly  be  Patti, — 
the  inimitable  and  adorable  songstress  worshipped  in  two  hemi- 
spheres,— still  looking  and  singing  like  a  maid  in  her  teens 
and  striving  her  hardest  to  please  on  her  own  twenty-five-by- 
twenty-five-foot  stage  down  in  this  remote  corner  of  Wales? 
It  seemed  curious  and  uncanny  enough  to  be  unreal;  and  it 
gave  one  "furiously  to  think." 

Then,  after  the  curtain  has  fallen  and  the  cheers  have  died 
away,  there  occurs  another  novel  precedent.  Instead  of  a  muf- 
fled figure  making  a  hurried  exit  through  a  stage-door,  be- 
hold the  diva,  in  an  evening  gown  rapidly  donned,  mingling 
with  her  guests  in  the  big  conservatory,  whither  they  have 
now  adjourned  to  greet  her  before  relieving  a  long  buffet  of 
its  heavy  load.  Once  more  our  Violetta  goes  through  her 
"Traviata"  business,  clinking  glasses  with  us  as  we  toast  her 
in  rivers  of  champagne.  Only  this  time  the  brindisi  is  not 
sung  by  Mr.  Durward  Lely,  of  "Mikado-Carmen"  fame,  but 
proposed  in  neat  English  sentences  by  Sir  Ilussey  Vivian. 
The  eyes  of  our  hostess  sparkle  like  the  wine.  The  double 
role  of  cantatrice  and  chatelaine  is  new  to  her;  one  can  see 
that  she  enjoys  playing  it. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  289 

She  was  in  great  spirits  that  night,  and  we  remained  up, 
talking  it  all  over,  until  long  after  the  last  guest  had  de- 
parted. 

Next  evening  a  dance  was  given  in  the  new  theatre,  a 
large  party  of  friends  from  the  neighborhood  being  again 
invited.  The  weather  had  undergone  a  change,  and  the  dwell- 
ers in  the  valley  journeyed  through  a  thick  mist  and  heavy 
rain  to  enjoy  the  hospitality  of  the  castle.  The  ingenious 
mechanism  for  raising  the  floor  to  the  level  of  the  stage  had 
been  brought,  into  operation.  A  capital  ball-room  was  the 
result,  and  no  one  revelled  more  in  the  inspiration  of  its 
well-polished  floor  than  Mme.  Patti,  who  was  an  insatiable 
waltzer. 

What  is  more,  she  waltzed  with  the  true  Viennese  swing; 
and,  considering  how  limited  was  her  allowance  of  physical 
exercise,  it  was  wonderful  how  long  she  could  dance  without 
getting  tired.  I  recollect  pointing  this  out  to  her  during 
a  pause  after  a  lengthy  spell  of  Strauss 's  "Doctrinen."  Her 
comment  was  characteristic : 

"I  never  had  a  lesson  in  ball-room  dancing  in  my  life,  but 
I  waltz  so  easil}-  that  it  never  seems  to  make  me  out  of  breath. 
I  must  have  a  good  partner,  though ;  otherwise  I  stop  after  a 
few  turns.  I  suppose  that  when  I  waltz  it  comes  naturally 
to  me  to  manage  my  breathing,  as  I  do  when  I  sing.  Take 
good  deep  breaths,  glide  lightly  without  exertion,  don't  're- 
verse' much,  and  you  can  waltz  a  long  while  before  feeling 
tired." 

Doubtless  she  was  right.  It  was  the  breath-control  that 
did  it.  And  this  was  one  of  the  things  that  she  had  acquired 
without  special  study,  like  the  singing  and  the  dancing  that 
she  associated  with  it.  She  had  a  singular  faculty  for 
"picking  up"  accomplishments.  I  asked  her  if  she  had  ever 
worked  seriously  at  a  musical  instrument. 


290  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

"Never,  until  just  lately.  I  can  play  the  piano,  and,  as 
you  know,  I  am  very  fond  of  my  castanets.  1  learned  also  to 
do  a  'roll"  on  the  side-drum  for  the  'Fille  du  Regiment.' 
But  recently  I  have  taken  a  great  liking  to  the  zither,  and 
am  studying  it  diligently  with  a  lady  who  eomes  down  here 
to  give  me  lessons.  It  is  a  charming  instrument;  don't  you 
think  so?     And  now  let  us  finish  our  waltz." 

It  was  a  tremendously  busy  week ;  for  after  a  brief  respite 
on  Friday — save  a  couple  of  hours  devoted  to  rehearsal — 
the  indefatigable  mistress  of  Craig-y-Nos  was  again  enter- 
taining a  crowd  of  friends  in  her  theatre  on  Saturday.  This 
time  the  invitations,  being  for  a  matinee,  went  farther  afield, 
and  the  little  auditorium  could  scarcely  accommodate  all 
who  came. 

The  programme  comprised  the  third  act  of  "Martha"  and 
the  Balcony  Scene  from  "Romeo."  Both  went  with  unflag- 
ging spirit,  and  Mme.  Patti  was  once  more  in  capital  voice. 
In  the  spinning  quartet  her  efforts  were  ably  seconded  by 
Mme.  Valda,  Durward  Lely,  and  Novara.  It  was,  as  usual, 
a  treat  to  hear  her  exquisite  phrasing  of  the  "Last  rose  of 
summer,"  which  she  sang  first  in  Italian  and  afterwards  in 
English  for  the  encore.  In  these  simple  melodies  she  was 
always  incomparable,  and  that  day  the  enthralling  loveliness 
of  her  tone  moved  the  writer  to  telegraph  to  his  paper: 
"Many  were  present  who  had  heard  the  illustrious  artist  in 
her  palmy  Covent  Garden  days,  and  they  were  fain  to  confess 
that  her  voice  had  never  sounded  more  beautiful,  had  never 
been  used  with  greater  art." 

The  Balcony  Scene  furnished  another  gratifying  reminis- 
cence of  bygone  triumphs ;  for  Nicolini  was  in  his  best  form, 
and  the  two  artists,  now  husband  and  wife,  bridged  the  inter- 
vening seventeen  years  with  surprising  ease.  "The  music  of 
Juliette  was  rendered  by  Mme.  Patti  as  no  other  living  artist 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  291 

can  render  it.  Indeed,  I  think  she  sang  with  more  passion 
and  grandeur  this  afternoon  than  when  I  heard  her  last  in 
this  character  at  the  Paris  Opera  nearly  three  years  ago. 
Her  Welsh  friends  thoroughly  appreciated  the  privilege  and 
pleasure  thus  afforded  them,  and  cheered  with  might  and  main. 
In  consequence,  the  curtain  was  raised  again,  and,  to  the 
general  delight,  Mme.  Patti  sang  her  old  friend  Arditi's 
waltz,  'II  Bacio,'  giving  it  with  the  grace  and  entrain  of 
which  she  alone  is  capable. ' ' x 

And  so  ended  the  memorable  series  of  functions  that  had 
been  planned  for  the  formal  inauguration  of  the  Patti  Thea- 
tre. They  were  completely  successful  in  that  they  demon- 
strated a  clear  artistic  raison  d'etre  for  what  was  otherwise 
no  more  than  an  interesting  private  experiment.  There  re- 
mained to  prove  that  it  possessed  further  value  as  a  con- 
venient locale  for  the  exercise  of  the  art  of  the  mime,  and 
evidence  of  this  was  not  long  in  coming. 

Meantime  the  house-party  broke  up.  The  Spanish  Am- 
bassador took  his  departure,  finding,  no  doubt,  a  pleasant 
travelling  companion  in  William  Terriss,  who  distinguished 
himself,  poor  fellow,  by  getting  up  very  early  on  the  morn- 
ing after  the  ball  (which  had  been  kept  up  until  4  a.  m.)  and 
executing  a  noisy  pas  seul  along  the  passage  outside  the  bed- 
room of  his  hostess — an  extremely  light  sleeper! 

Mr.  Lawson  and  Beatty  Kingston  also  went  off  together, 
and  in  a  very  contented  frame  of  mind ;  since  both  had  had  a 
thoroughly  "good  time"  and  had  just  received  copies  of  the 
D.T.  containing  the  latter 's  carefully  telephoned  article. 
With  a  few  exceptions,  the  rest  of  us  accepted  invitations  to 
make  a  longer  stay.     Thereby  hangs  another  tale. 

i  Sunday  Times,  August  15,  1891. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Life  at  Craig-y-Nos  in  1891  (Continued) — Patti's  Vocal  Practice  and 
Recreations — A  Shooting  Incident — Preparations  for  a  Royal  Visit — 
A  Pantomime  Rehearsal — Prince  Henry  of  Battenberg  at  the  Castle 
— A  Special  Performance  in  the  Theatre — Sir  Augustus  Harris  Comes 
on  a  Holiday — "La  Tosca"  as  a  Wordless  Play — A  Visit  at  Christ- 
mas, 1892 — Patti  and  the  Young  Italian  School — Bevignani's  Revised 
Version  of  "Una  Voce" — Her  Talent  for  Improvisation — A  Tune  at 
Tea-time 

MY  first  week  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  had  convinced  me 
that  existence  there  could  be  very  pleasant,  very  di- 
verting, and,  without  a  doubt,  very  strenuous.  Nor  can  I 
say,  in  spite  of  the  special  nature  of  the  festivities  described 
in  the  last  chapter,  that  it  was  lacking,  at  any  time  in  my  ex- 
perience, in  one  or  other  of  these  particular  characteristics. 
AVhen  there  were  fewer  visitors  the  life  was  perchance  less 
exciting;  but  it  was  always  agreeable,  and  never  in  the  re- 
motest degree  dull. 

Its  strenuousness  invariably  radiated  from  the  same  cen- 
tral source:  that  is  to  say,  the  active  brain,  the  keen,  restless 
spirit  of  her  whom  Spalding  always  called  the  "little  lady." 
She  hated  to  "sit  still  and  do  nothing."  Neither  during  this 
ultra-busy  period  nor  subsequently  did  I  ever  observe  in  her 
a  tendency  to  idle  minutes  away  or  indulge  in  long  spells  of 
gossip.  Conversation  with  her  was  not  merely  lively  and  edi- 
fying, but  calculated  to  keep  one  wide  awake.  She  could 
not  tolerate  indolence  of  thought  or  manner  in  those  around 
her,  and  when  they  were  capable  of  ministering  to  her  di- 
versions, she  gave  them  plenty  to  do.  By  keeping  every  one 
occupied  and  amused  she  achieved  the  same  thing  for  her- 
self. 

292 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  293 

During  the  hours  of  liberty  preceding  luncheon  she  would 
remain  in  her  own  apartments,  only  coming  down  early 
enough  to  take  a  stroll  in  the  winter  garden  or  (when  it  was 
warm  enough)  on  the  terrace  overlooking  the  valley.  Before 
doing  this  she  first  attended  to  her  correspondence  or  business 
affairs  and  then  practised.  The  length  of  her  practice  de- 
pended upon  what  there  might  be  for  her  to  study,  if  there 
was  anything  at  all.  The  morning  was  not  allowed  to  pass, 
however,  without  her  working  on  scales,  the  shake,  and  a  few 
cadenzas,  these  last  for  the  most  part  improvised.  She  also 
devoted  a  certain  amount  of  time  to  playing  the  zither.  Day 
after  day,  as  I  paused  under  her  window,  I  could  hear  her 
playing  or  singing ;  and  it  was  a  delight  to  listen  to  the  won- 
derful voice,  whatever  its  theme,  as  it  rang  out,  clear  and 
resonant,  upon  the  still  summer  atmosphere  of  the  Welsh  hills. 

Sometimes  it  was  my  good  fortune  to  be  her  companion 
during  one  of  her  indoor  walks — twenty  times  round  the  win- 
ter garden  to  a  mile,  or  thereabouts.  She  would  talk  freely 
on  any  subject  that  interested  her,  and  showed  reticence  only 
when  she  herself  became  the  topic.  For  a  woman  who  had 
been  so  overladen  with  praise  and  flattery  of  the  most  undi- 
luted description,  I  always  found  her  singularly  modest  when 
referring  to  her  own  career,  her  own  gifts  and  accomplish- 
ments. When  I  succeeded  in  turning  the  conversation  toward 
the  past,  it  would  be  to  elicit  her  opinions  about  other 
celebrities,  as  they  happened  to  flit  across  her  memory.  She 
had  admired  some ;  others  not  at  all ;  and  she  did  not  mind 
expressing  herself  without  reserve,  because,  as  she  often  said, 
' '  I  have  confidence  in  your  discretion. ' '  That  confidence  must 
not  be  violated  now. 

As  a  rule,  however,  it  was  concerning  the  affairs  of  the 
day  and  our  projects  for  mutual  entertainment  that  we  talked 
most  during  these  matutinal  strolls.  Then  would  she  dis- 
cuss what  was  to  be  done  in  the  theatre  and  the  various 


294  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

plans  for  keeping  up  the  "strenuous  life."  In  the  morning 
Nicolini  was  generally  out  fishing  or  shooting;  in  the  after- 
noon we  sometimes  went  for  a  drive  and  paid  visits  in  the 
neighborhood. 

Occasionally,  too,  when  the  castle  was  less  full  of  guests,  its 
mistress  would  proceed  to  Ystradgynlais,  or  some  other  vil- 
lage near  by,  on  one  of  her  missions  of  charity.  One  day 
she  returned  bringing  with  her  in  the  carriage  a  poor  woman 
whom  she  had  found  by  the  wayside.  Shortly  afterwards  the 
servants'  quarters  were  resounding  to  the  lusty  cries  of  a 
new-born  babe.  The  forlorn  mother  was  well  cared  for  and 
not  allowed  to  depart  for  several  days.  But  whether  the  in- 
fant was  ultimately  christened  Ernest  or  Adelina  history 
does  not  relate. 

During  this  first  visit  to  Craig-y-Nos  one  did  not  get  much 
outdoor  recreation.  A  new  tennis-lawn  had  just  been  laid 
down,  and  Mme.  Patti  came  to  watch  us  play  the  inaugural 
set.  The  talent  of  some  of  the  players  was,  however,  in- 
ferior, and  the  game  did  not  greatly  interest  her.  Hence, 
probably,  the  reason  why  the  court  was  allowed  to  fall  into 
neglect.  I  played  on  it  very  little,  preferring  to  walk  or  fish 
or  shoot.  The  right  to  indulge  in  these  last  two  sports  was 
jealously  guarded  bjr  Nicolini.  He  allowed  me  to  fish  as  much 
as  I  pleased ;  but  to  join  him  with  a  gun  was  a  special  favor 
not  accorded  me  until  another  year.  We  were  now  only  in 
August.  Nicolini  was  waiting  for  the  pheasants,  which  he 
had  reared  with  the  aid  of  two  game-keepers  at  the  end  of 
a  large  kitchen-garden. 

But  bringing  up  pheasants  on  the  premises  was  a  mistake. 
It  once  led  to  trouble.  Mine.  Patti  loved  the  birds,  which  were 
very  tame,  and  took  pride  in  showing  them  to  her  friends. 
She  would  often  feed  them  herself.  Naturally,  this  caused 
her  to  dislike  the  idea  of  their  being  killed,  and  she  made 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  295 

her  husband  promise  that  he  would  not  shoot  at  them  within 
a  certain  distance  of  the  castle.  He  tried  to  keep  his  word ; 
but  on  the  occasion  of  our  first  "shoot"  fate  and  the  pheasants 
were  too  much  for  him.  We  began  across  the  little  river  in 
the  most  distant  part  of  the  grounds.  He  potted  a  brace;  I 
by  great  luck,  brought  off  what  he  termed  a  coup  royal,  which 
made  him  extremely  envious.  But  the  birds  were  not  in  the 
least  "wild,"  and,  finding  themselves  attacked  so  near  home, 
of  course  made  straight  for  the  kitchen-garden. 

Xicolini  became  very  excited.  Not  heeding  or  under- 
standing his  game-keeper's  warning,  he  first  fired  at  the  pheas- 
ants as  they  flew  toward  the  castle,  then  crossed  the  bridge 
and  began  to  follow  them  up.  Both  proceedings  proved  dis- 
astrous. His  tiny  leaden  shot  fell  on  the  glass  roof  of  the  con- 
servatory just  when  Mme.  Patti  happened  to  be  sitting  be- 
neath it,  and  the  noise  of  the  firing  coming  nearer  roused  in 
her  not  only  alarm  but  anger.  The  climax  arrived  when 
Nicolini  got  into  the  kitchen-garden  and  began  aiming  at  the 
poor  birds  there.  I  think  he  hit  one.  What  would  have 
happened  next  I  know  not,  had  he  not  heard  his  distraught 
spouse  calling  to  him  from  the  distance.  Only  then  did  he 
hand  his  gun  to  the  nearest  keeper.  (I  had  discreetly  given 
up  mine  some  time  before.)  Over  the  domestic  sequel  to  this 
curious  episode  I  draw  a  veil. 

But  to  return  to  the  festivities  of  August,  1891.  On  the 
Monday  following  the  opening  of  the  theatre  Mme.  Patti  gave 
out  an  interesting  bit  of  news.  She  expected  to  be  honored 
with  a  visit  from  the  late  Prince  Henry  of  Battenberg,  whose 
yacht  had  anchored  at  the  Mumbles  off  Swansea.  He  was 
spending  much  of  his  time  with  Mr.  Graham  Vivian  at  Clyne 
Castle,  in  the  neighborhood  of  that  port.  As  soon  as  his 
Royal  Highness  fixed  the  day,  she  intended  to  arrange  an 
operatic  performance  in  his  honor. 


296  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

With  this  in  view,  the  personnel  was  to  be  retained,  as  far 
as  circumstances  would  permit.  Novara  had  already  de- 
parted, but  could  be  recalled ;  Mme.  Valda  had  an  engagement 
in  Dublin,  but  would  not  be  allowed  to  go ;  Arditi  was  still 
at  Craig-y-Nos,  and  the  band  could  be  available  at  very  short 
notice.  Luckily,  the  Prince  soon  made  known  his  decision. 
He  would  pay  his  promised  visit  on  the  following  Saturday, 
coming  in  time  for  lunch,  then  witness  the  performance  in  the 
afternoon  and  return  to  dyne  Castle  after  tea. 

Mme.  Patti  was  greatly  elated  at  the  idea  of  entertaining 
at  her  Welsh  castle  a  prince  so  closely  allied  to  the  royal 
family.  She  knew  him  to  be — what  he  undoubtedly  was — a 
charming  man,  and  meant  that  he  should  thoroughly  enjoy 
himself. 

"But  what,"  she  asked,  "can  we  do  between  now  and  Sat- 
urday? We  must  make  use  of  the  theatre  and  amuse  our- 
selves somehow.  Why  not  get  up  a  pantomime?"  The  prop- 
osition was  received  with  enthusiasm.  It  was  evidently  not  a 
new  idea  among  the  regular  Craig-y-Nos  circle,  though  until 
now  there  had  been  no  regular  stage  for  the  purpose. 

These  "mime"  or  "wordless"  plays  were  of  two  types,  one 
serious,  the  other  comic.  The  former  was  definite  and  dra- 
matic in  action,  and  performed  to  a  regular  descriptive  musical 
setting;  like,  for  instance,  the  "Enfant  Prodigue"  of  Andre 
Wormser,  which  was  just  then  the  rage  in  Paris  and  London. 
The  comic  type  belonged  more  to  the  "go-as-you-please"  or- 
der. Based  generally  upon  some  shadowy  plot  or  "Arabian 
Nights"  story,  it  was  acted  to  haphazard  or  extemporized 
music,  and  allowed  ample  scope  for  the  exercise  of  individual 
humor  and  fun.  It  was  settled  that  we  should  prepare  a  word- 
less play  of  each  kind,  and  do  the  comic  one  first,  that  being 
much  the  easier  to  get  up  at  a  day  or  two's  notice. 

The  direction  of  this  was  confided  to  Augustus  Spalding, 
whose  long  experience  as  an  amateur  actor  (he  had  played  for 


THE  "LOST  GAINSBOROUGH* 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  297 

years  at  Windsor  and  at  Canterbury  in  the  Cricket  Week) 
made  him  invaluable  both  as  principal  low  comedian  and 
stage-manager.  The  subject  chosen  was  "Bluebeard."  For 
the  serious  mime-play  Mme.  Patti  was  anxious  to  have  a  Sarah 
Bernhardt  part.  I  suggested  "La  Tosca."  After  a  little 
consideration,  she  decided  upon  Sardou's  play,  and  asked 
me  to  write  out  a  scenario  as  guide  for  the  action  and  melo- 
drame.1  The  production  was  not  to  be  hurried,  however;  it 
would  do  if  ready  in  a  few  days. 

The  mise  en  scene  of  these  things  created  no  more  difficulty 
than  the  distribution  of  the  roles.  In  addition  to  scenery  and 
costumes  for  mounting  excerpts  from  half-a-dozen  operas, 
the  stock  of  the  new  theatre  included  a  large  supply  of  fancy 
dresses  of  all  sorts  and  sizes,  together  with  a  generous  as- 
sortment of  wigs  sent  down  by  Clarkson.  On  the  Tuesday 
morning,  in  less  than  an  hour,  the  entire  cast  was  suitably  fur- 
nished with  effective  costumes  for  a  performance  of  "Blue- 
beard," to  take  place  on  the  following  evening.  Then,  after 
lunch,  we  held  our  first  rehearsal.  And  very  glad  we  were 
to  have  indoor  occupation;  for  the  weather,  which  had  been 
fine  and  hot  the  week  before,  had  gradually  broken  up,  and 
it  was  now  raining  steadily  every  day.  Fortunately,  it  im- 
proved again  just  in  time  for  Prince  Henry's  visit. 

I  fear  I  cannot  worthily  describe  that  comic  mime-pla}^ 
rehearsal  or  tell  how  cleverly  Spalding  tried  to  infuse  into 
his  mute  company  the  spirit  of  Gaiety  burlesque:  how  he 
taught  us  to  enact  the  old  story  without  uttering  a  word, 
and  to  extract  real  fun  from  the  most  absurd  situations, 
making  us  do  everything  by  means  of  action,  gesture,  and 
facial  expression.  A  second  Fred  Leslie  himself,  the  old 
amateur  certainly  found  another  Nelly  Farren  in  Mme.  Patti. 
She  was  the  Fatima  of  the  cast.     Her  quick  sense  of  drollery, 

1  Puccini's  opera  was  then  barely  known,  and  for  her  mime-play 
Mme.  Patti  wished  me  to  follow  the  lines  of  Sardou's  original  plot. 


298  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

the  lightning  rapidity  with  which  she  seized  a  comic  point 
and  elaborated  it,  added  to  her  skill  as  a  mime,  her  memory 
for  detail,  her  agility  and  grace  of  movement,  were  all  simply 
amazing.  She  was  even  willing  to  join  in  the  rough-and- 
tumble  business  that  Spalding  invented.  In  a  word,  she  en- 
tered with  the  vivacity  of  a  girl  into  the  spirit  of  the  panto- 
mime, and  derived  pure  pleasure  from  every  moment  of  it. 

Much  was  impromptu  fun,  of  course.  Nor  can  it  be  said 
that  the  whole  of  the  business  adopted  at  the  rehearsal  was 
exactly  repeated  at  the  preliminary  performance  which  we 
gave  before  a  small  audience  of  friends.  The  lively  and  ap- 
propriate music  supplied  by  Mr.  Hulley  and  one  or  two  of 
his  Swansea  executants  served  as  a  suggestive  reminder. 
But  unquestionably  the  animation  of  the  pantomime  never 
flagged;  while  in  two  or  three  instances  (notably  one  in  which 
the  writer  sustained  a  rather  grotesque  fall  that  evoked  shrieks 
of  laughter  from  our  friends  in  front)  the  proceedings  had 
the  additional  charm  of  the  unpremeditated. 

On  Saturday  (August  23)  the  weather  cleared  as  if  by 
magic,  and  a  hot  midday  sun  was  drying  up  the  mists  of  the 
valley  when  Spalding  and  I  drove  to  the  little  Penwyllt  station 
to  receive  Prince  Henry  of  Battenberg  on  behalf  of  Mme 
Patti-Nicolini.  Our  first  duty,  when  he  alighted  from  the 
train,  was  to  explain  to  the  Prince  that,  as  they  were  going 
to  sing  for  him  in  the  afternoon,  his  host  and  hostess  were 
compelled  to  deny  themselves  the  pleasure  of  coming  to  meet 
him.     He  replied : 

"I  am  very  glad  they  did  not  take  the  trouble.  Mme 
Patti  honors  me  sufficiently  as  it  is,  and  I  should  not  have  ex- 
pected her  to  come  to  the  station,  even  if  our  friend,  Mr. 
Grahame  Vivian,  had  not  told  me  it  was  hardly  possible  in 
view  of  the  performance."     He  was,  I  may  add,  accompanied 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  299 

by  his  host  at  Clyne  Castle,  together  with  Miss  Vivian,  Count 
Gleichen,  Lord  Royston  (afterward  the  Earl  of  Hardwicke), 
the  Hon.  Henry  Bruce,  Mr.  T.  Legh,  M.  P.,  and  Mrs.  Legh. 

As  we  walked  to  the  carriages  the  Prince  asked  me  in  what 
opera  the  diva  intended  to  appear.  When  I  told  him  the 
Garden  Scene  from  "Faust,"  he  was  delighted. 

"For  me,"  he  said  "  'Faust'  never  loses  its  freshness,  be- 
sides, I  have  never  seen  Mme.  Patti  as  Gretchen.  How  won- 
derful that  she  should  still  be  able  to  sing  these  youthful 
parts!" 

Probably  he  wondered  less  when  she  came  forward  to  greet 
him  at  the  castle  entrance,  with  Nicolini  by  her  side.  Dressed 
in  her  latest  Paris  gown, — an  elegant  creation  in  some  soft 
silken  material  of  bluish  grey  that  showed  off  to  perfection 
her  svelte  figure, — she  looked  extraordinarily  juvenile  as  she 
made  her  graceful  courtesy  and,  shaking  hands  with  Prince 
Henry,  bade  him  welcome  to  "notre  petit  chateau  de  Craig-y- 
Nos."  Then,  after  presenting  her  husband,  she  led  her  royal 
guest  to  the  little  drawing-room  in  the  old  wing,  and  showed 
him  her  highly  interesting  collection  of  curios,  bric-a-brac, 
and  gifts  of  various  kinds  that  had  been  offered  to  her  in 
course  of  her  long  career. 

A  few  minutes  later  we  were  all  seated — a  party  of  twenty- 
five  or  thirty — at  a  long  luncheon  table  in  the  spacious  con- 
servatory, which  was  kept  cool  by  artificial  ventilation  so 
as  to  avoid  any  risk  of  draughts.  Mme.  Patti  sat  at  the 
centre  of  the  table,  with  the  Prince  on  her  right  and  Mr. 
Graham  Vivian  on  her  left.  She  was  in  her  most  joyous 
mood.  Indeed,  she  talked  so  constantly  and  laughed  so 
heartily  that  Nicolini  reminded  her  more  than  once  to  be 
careful  not  to  fatigue  her  voice.  "Oui,  mon  ami/'  she  would 
say  with  a  demure  look,  and  forthwith  renewed  her  conversa- 
tion.    Both,  however,  excused  themselves  for  not  partaking 


300  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

of  the  meal.  They  had  lunched  before  midday,  in  order  to 
be  able  to  sing  by  half-past  two.  At  two  o'clock  they  retired 
to  dress. 

Seated  as  I  was  nearly  opposite  the  Prince,  I  had  ample 
opportunity  for  observing  his  engaging  and  affable  manner. 
I  noted  it  particularly  when  he  loaned  across  the  table  and 
expressed  to  Xicolini  his  regret  that  the  Princess  (Beatrice) 
was  not  with  him.  lie  was  "sure  she  would  have  been  de- 
lighted to  spend  a  few  hours  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  and  hear 
Mine.  Patti  once  more."  lie  obviously  appreciated  the  ab- 
sence of  fuss,  and  would,  I  dare  say,  have  been  equally  grati- 
fied had  he  been  spared  the  "salute  of  twenty-one  guns"  that 
was  fired  both  on  his  arrival  and  departure  at  Penwyllt. 

Needless  to  add,  Prince  Henry  admired  the  theatre  and  de- 
rived unqualified  pleasure  from  the  performance,  which  went 
with  great  smoothness  under  Arditi's  sympathetic  baton. 
Fewer  than  a  hundred  people  were  present,  but  the  applause 
was,  of  course,  rapturous;  and  at  the  end  Mme.  Patti  sang 
two  of  the  veteran  conductor's  waltzes.  During  tea  the 
Prince  listened  to  the  orchestrion  and  paid  his  hostess  some 
hearty  compliments.  Before  leaving  he  said,  loudly  enough 
for  us  all  to  hear: 

"I  bid  you  au  revoir,  madame,  not  good-bye,  and  again  I 
thank  you  a  thousand  times  for  your  delightful  entertain- 
ment. It  has  been  a  great  privilege  to  hear  you  sing  in  your 
beautiful  theatre.     I  shall  never  forget  it." 

He  was  to  hear  her  only  once  again — not  at  Craig-y-Nos  but 
at  Covent  Garden — before  his  death,  which  occurred  about 
four  years  later.  The  recollection  enhanced  one's  sense  of 
loss  and  sorrow  at  the  premature  cutting  off  of  an  amiable 
personality.  Mme.  Patti  referred  to  his  visit  several  times. 
It  was  always  "Poor  Prince  Henry!  What  a  dear,  sweet 
man  !     Et  comme  il  etait  beau,  n'est-ce  pas?" 

After   the   excitement    had   subsided   the   house-party   ap- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  301 

preciably  dwindled  in  numbers.  But  after  a  day  or  two  it 
was  renewed  by  the  arrival  of  Sir  Augustus  and  Lady  Harris ; 
also  of  some  artists  who  had  been  invited  to  take  part  in  the 
yearly  charity  concert  at  Swansea  on  August  28.  The  list 
for  the  latter  affair  comprised,  in  addition  to  Mme.  Patti, 
Mine.  Antoinette  Sterling,  the  sisters  Marianne  and  Clara 
Eissler,  Durward  Lely,  Bonetti,  Tito  Mattei,  and  Wilhelm 
Ganz. 

Sir  Augustus  was  in  great  spirits.  The  industrious  and 
versatile  individual  who  that  year  filled  the  triple  roles  of 
Sheriff  of  London,  impresario  of  the  Royal  Opera  at  Covent 
Garden,  and  manager  of  Drury  Lane  Theatre,  had  just  re- 
ceived his  knighthood ;  and  at  the  moment  his  labors  appeared 
to  sit  as  lightly  on  him  as  his  honors.  Adelina  Patti  had 
known  him  from  his  childhoood,  when  his  father  occasionally 
brought  him,  as  a  small  boy,  to  stand  in  the  wings  and  listen 
to  an  opera  at  Covent  Garden.  They  were  the  best  of  friends. 
But  this  was  the  first  time  he  had  visited  Craig-y-Nos,  and, 
although  he  had  now  been  the  director  of  the  Royal  Opera 
(it  had  lately  dropped  the  "Italian")  for  a  period  of  four 
years,  the  idea  of  the  famous  singer's  return  to  the  scene  of 
her  former  triumphs  had  not  as  yet  been  even  mooted. 

There  were,  of  course,  good  reasons  for  this.  Harris  knew 
quite  well  that  he  could  not  afford  to  pay  her  a  cachet  ap- 
proaching her  ordinary  terms.  Again,  she,  for  her  part,  was 
now  under  a  contract  with  Mr.  Percy  Harrison  that  precluded 
her  from  singing  in  opera  in  Great  Britain  without  his  con- 
sent or  managerial  cooperation.  Nicolini,  aware  of  what  her 
personal  choice  would  be  if  she  exercised  it,  did  his  best  to 
keep  her  mind  fixed  upon  a  concert  career,  which  (in  Eng- 
land) was  so  much  more  lucrative  and  less  burdensome  than 
the  labors  inseparable  from  the  opera  house. 

Sir  Augustus  stayed  at  the  castle  four  or  five  days,  but, 
so  far  as  I  am  aware,  he  did  not  once  put  the  question  to  his 


C02  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

hostess.  They  were  "Adelina"  and  '  Gus"  to  each  other; 
never,  at  this  stage,  impresario  and  prima  donna ;  and  my 
friendly  relations  with  both  were  such  that,  if  the  suggestion 
of  Covent  Garden  had  been  broached  on  either  side,  I  should 
certainly  have  heard  of  it.  The  point  is  only  of  importance, 
however,  in  view  of  what  was  to  happen  three  years  later, 
when,  acting  as  intermediary  between  the  two  friends,  I  was 
fortunate  enough  to  bring  about  the  arrangement  for  Mme. 
Patti's  final  series  of  appearances  in  opera  at  Covent  Garden. 

It  was  during  the  worthy  sheriff's  visit  that  we  rehearsed 
the  new  wordless  play  founded  on  "La  Tosca."  Mme.  Patti 
asked  him  if  he  would  stage-manage  it.  He  declined  the  task, 
urging  as  an  excellent  excuse  that  he  was  "out  for  a  holiday, 
and  too  glad  to  escape  from  the  theatre  as  long  as  possible." 
Nevertheless,  curiosity  led  him  to  peep  in  one  afternoon  while 
a  rehearsal  was  going  on.  Becoming  interested,  he  slipped 
into  a  dark  corner  of  the  auditorium  and  sat  down  without 
being  noticed.  We  were  going  through  the  Supper  Scene.  I 
was  enacting  the  part  of  Scarpia,  and  doing  my  best  to  por- 
tray in  dumb-show  the  villainous  proceedings  of  the  unscrupu- 
lous Minister  of  Police. 

Mme.  Patti  had  mastered  the  business  of  this  difficult  scene 
and  was  acting  it  superbly.  Every  pose,  every  gesture,  was 
a  picturesque  study  that  helped  to  express  and  carry  along 
the  story  and  give  full  effect  to  each  dramatic  episode.  I 
had  been  stabbed.  I  had  stretched  myself  full  length  in  the 
middle  of  the  stage.  La  Tosca  was  gazing  in  horror  at  my 
prostrate  form,  when  she  happened  to  raise  her  eyes  and  per- 
ceive Sir  Augustus  watching  her  intently  from  his  seat  at 
the  back  of  the  theatre.  The  horror-stricken  look  instantly 
melted  into  a  smile.     She  called  out : 

"Gus,  what  are  you  doing  there?" 

"Enjoying  myself." 


THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI  303 

' '  That  's  all  very  well.  If  you  come  in  at  all,  you  ought  to 
come  on  the  stage  and  help  us." 

''My  dear  Adelina,  I  have  already  explained  to  you  why 
I  would  rather  not." 

' '  Then  you  must  n  't  stay  ! ' ' 

"Well,  I  am  going,"  replied  the  impresario.  "If  this  wore 
an  opera  or  a  play  I  might  have  lent  you  a  hand.  But  what- 
ever it  may  be,  my  help  is  not  needed  so  long  as  you  are 
there.  I  am  just  beginning  to  realize  that  if  you  had  not 
been  the  world's  greatest  singer,  you  could  have  been  one 
of  its  best  actresses."  (Applause  from  the  whole  company, 
including  the  still  prostrate  Scarpia.) 

Rather  a  long  speech  for  Harris,  but  it  came  from  his 
heart,  and  the  compliment  was  sincere.  Then  he  laughed  his 
characteristic  noisy  laugh  and  strolled  out  of  the  theatre.1 

An  engagement  in  the  North  prevented  him  from  staying 
for  the  performance,  which  could  not  take  place  prior  to  the 
concert  at  Swansea  on  the  28th.  He  managed,  however,  to  at- 
tend the  latter  function,  and,  together  with  Lady  Harris,  wit- 
nessed the  remarkable  scenes  of  enthusiasm  that  took  place  in 
the  crowded  streets  of  Swansea  and  at  the  no  less  crowded 
concert-hall.  I  remember  asking  him  whether,  as  Sheriff  of 
London,  he  had  ever  beheld  a  more  inspiring  sight. 

"No,"  answered  Sir  Augustus;  "not  even  the  Lord  Mayor's 
Show,  with  me  in  it!" 

He  bade  Mme.  Patti  a  hurried  farewell  in  the  artists'  room, 
thanked  her  for  her  hospitality,  and  rushed  off  to  catch  his 
train.  Therewith  ended  his  first  and  last  visit  to  the  Swansea 
Valley. 

Next  evening  the  performance  of  "Tosca"  duly  came  off, 

i  This  incident  has  already  been  related  in  my  book,  "Thirty  Years 
of  Musical  Life  in  London,"  but  it  seems  to  me  also  to  claim  a  place 
in  the  present  volume. 


304  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

but  not  exactly  in  the  form  and  under  the  conditions  that 
had  been  intended.  We  found  at  the  penultimate  rehearsal 
that  t  he  four  acts  occupied  nearly  two  hours  and  a  half,  or 
about  an  hour  more  than  the  exigencies  of  an  after-dinner 
entertainment  to  the  friends  in  the  valley  would  conveniently 
allow.  It  was  consequently  decided  thai  the  drama  should 
be  represented,  not  as  a  mime-play,  bu1  in  a  series  of  tableaux 
vivanis — a  much  more  ordinary  and  hackneyed  method,  the 
adoption  of  which  caused  every  one  keen  disappointment.  In- 
stead of  being  given  with  continuous  action,  the  story  became 
a  long-drawn  series  of  pictorial  illustrations,  some  forty-eight 
in  number,  and  of  course  not  nearly  so  interesting  to  the 
spectator. 

Even  so,  however,  it  was  a  success.  It  should  be  mentioned 
that  the  part  of  Pdul  Cavaradossi  was  undertaken  by  Richawl 
Xicolini  (a  son  of  the  tenor  by  his  earlier  marriage),  a  youth- 
ful actor  who  had  just  started  his  career  upon  the  French 
stage.  This  pleasant  young  fellow  inherited  some  of  his 
father's  good  loooks  and  dramatic  talent,  but  none  of  his 
vocal  powers.  He  assisted  me  with  my  make-up  as  Scarpia, 
and  succeeded — chiefly  by  powdering  my  hair  and  coloring  my 
moustache  a  jet-black — in  imparting  to  me  such  a  sinister 
Italian  aspect  that,  when  I  entered  Mine.  Patti's  dressing- 
room  just  before  we  began,  she  started  back  in  surprise,  stared 
at  me  a  moment,  then  hissed  out,  "You  devil!"  It  was 
enough.  I  knew  I  looked  the  character,  and  returned  the 
compliment  by  expressing  my  admiration  of  the  lovely  picture 
presented  by  the  new  Tosca. 

What  a  pity  she  never  sang  the  opera!  The  only  artist 
w  ho  would  have  rivalled  her  in  it  was  the  gifted  Milka  Ternina, 
who  created  it  at  Covent  Garden  in  1900 — the  same  year  that 
Puccini's  opera  was  first  produced  at  La  Scala.  In  1891 
the  constellation  since  known  as  the  Young  Italian  school  was 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  305 

only  just  beginning  to  emerge  from  the  horizon,  for,  curi- 
ously enough,  when  Arditi  left  Craig-y-Nos  this  same  week, 
it  was  to  conduct  the  first  performances  in  England  of 
Mascagni's  "Cavalleria  Rusticana"  at  the  Shaftesbury 
Theatre,  London.  The  dawn  of  the  new  operatic  era  thus 
occurred  only  a  decade  too  late — nay,  hardly  perhaps  so  much 
as  that — for  the  genius  of  Adelina  Patti  to  be  associated  with 
it.  But  none  who  remembered  her  superb  A'ida,  and  now 
saw  her  depict  the  emotions  of  a  Tosca  upon  the  stage  of  her 
own  little  theatre,  could  entertain  a  doubt  as  to  the  brilliant 
things  that  would  have  resulted  from  that  artistic  union. 

Early  in  September  this  enjoyable  gathering  at  the  castle 
came  to  an  end.  A  few  days  of  comparative  rest — not  more 
essential  for  our  hostess  than  for  some  of  her  guests — followed 
upon  the  three  weeks  of  incessant  excitement  and  activity. 
Then  the  party  broke  up,  and  those  who  were  laborers  re- 
sumed their  every-day  duties  in  the  musical  field.  Mme.  Patti 
consented  to  indulge  in  a  month  of  perfect  tranquillity  before 
singing  at  a  few  provincial  concerts  and  undertaking  yet  an- 
other American  tour,  beginning  in  January,  1892.  Nicolini, 
meanwhile,  spent  his  autumn  shooting  and  fishing,  and  listen- 
ing with  rapture  to  the  orchestrion  as  it  "unrolled"  the  cele- 
brated "Ave  Maria"  from  "Cavalleria  Rusticana"  for  the 
first  time. 

On  no  subsequent  occasion  did  I  find  the  life  at  Craig-y-Nos 
Castle  quite  so  crammed  with  strenuous  occupation  as  during 
that  initial  experience.  In  consequence  each  visit  grew  more 
agreeable,  and  if  in  course  of  time  the  novelty  wore  off  some- 
what, the  charm  never  did.  It  was  a  charm  that  emanated 
from  the  beauty  of  the  place  and  the  unique  personality  of 
its  hostess,  whose  faculty  for  entertaining  her  friends  and 
keeping  them  busy  seemed  never  to  desert  her.  Hence  an 
attractiveness  that  was  abiding  and  irresistible. 


306  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

When  I  went  down  for  the  second  time,  it  was  winter — the 
Christmas-tide  of  1892. x  Mine.  Patti  was  expecting  to  leave 
for  the  Riviera  and  Italy  early  in  January,  and  a  bare 
fortnight  remained  for  the  holiday  and  diversions  of  the  fes- 
tive season.  The  cold  was  rather  severe ;  the  hills  were  thickly 
clad  with  snow,  and  the  contrast  between  this  bleak  December 
picture  and  the  smiling  landscape  of  August,  as  I  had  pre- 
viously beheld  it,  was  striking.  Weather,  however,  made 
little  difference  to  our  hostess,  save  that  she  took  her  morn- 
ing stroll  in  the  winter  garden.  In  the  afternoon  she  drove 
out  as  usual,  and  more  than  once,  when  snow  was  plentiful, 
donned  her  heavy  furs  and  enjoyed  a  sleigh-ride. 

Among  the  guests  this  time  was  my  old  friend  Enrico 
Bevignani,  the  sympathetic  orchestra  leader  who  had  con- 
ducted most  of  the  operas  sung  by  the  diva  at  Covent  Garden, 
in  Russia,  and  in  Italy  from  1871  till  1884.  He  had  already 
been  there  a  few  days  (for  a  purpose  that  was  soon  to  be  dis- 
closed), and  had  brought  with  him  the  vocal  score  of  the  new- 
opera  "Pagliacci,"  which  was  not  to  be  heard  in  London 
until  the  following  May.  One  day  after  tea  he  played  the 
music  over  to  us.  Mme.  Patti  liked  it  immensely.  She  quite 
fell  in  love  with  the  ballatella  sung  by  Nedda  in  the  first  act. 

"What  a  bright,  happy  tune!"  she  exclaimed.  "I  am  so 
glad  to  see  that  these  young  Italian  composers  are  following 
in  the  footsteps  of  Rossini  and  Verdi,  and  keeping  up  the 
tradition  of  their  country  for  giving  us  melody  to  sing." 

Bevignani  asked  her  if  she  would  care  to  study  the  part 
of  Nedda.     He  thought  it  would  suil  her. 

i  According  to  Arditi's  "Reminiscences"  (p.  290),  Mme.  Patti  sailed 
for  New  York  with  the  conductor  and  the  other  artists  of  the  Abbey 
troupe  on  December  23,  1892.  Obviously  this  was  a  mistake.  It  was 
in  1891  that  she  started  from  Liverpool,  and  in  January,  1892,  that  the 
tour  began.  In  December  of  the  latter  year  Signor  Arditi  was  in 
Brussels  conducting  a  series  of  concerts,  at  the  first  of  which  (on  the 
21st)  Mme.  Melba  appeared. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  307 

"No,  I  don't  think  I  want  to  go  in  for  these  new  operas. 
I  answer  you  as  I  do  when  I  am  asked  whether  I  would  care 
to  sing  Wagner.  There  are  plenty  of  sopranos  who  can  do 
justice  to  heavy  modern  music,  plenty  who  can  manage  the 
latest  lyrical  or  dramatic  roles.  For  my  work  on  the  stage  I 
had  better  keep  now  to  the  old  repertoire.  There  are  not  so 
many  capable  of  singing  it;  and,  besides,  the  public  always 
wants  to  hear  me  in  the  operas  that  it  has  heard  me  in  from 
the  first." 

"You  are  quite  right,"  said  Bevignani.  "But  at  least  you 
will  permit  me  to  write  and  tell  Leoncavallo  what  you  say 
about  his  music  ? ' ' 

"By  all  means.  Tell  him  also  how  pleased  I  am  to  find 
that  some  of  the  composers  of  to-day  know  still  how  to  write 
for  the  voice,  instead  of  the  unvocal  stuff,  with  horrid  in- 
tervals, that  wears  out  our  throats  and  is  as  unpleasant  to 
listen  to  as  it  is  to  sing.  I  don't  allude  to  Wagner.  You 
know  that  I  love  his  music,  and  some  of  it  is  quite  beautifully 
written  for  singers,  even  though  his  operas  are  too  heavy 
for  me.     But  there  are  others,  n'est-ce  pas?" 

On  Christmas  Eve  we  had  music  in  the  theatre,  followed 
by  a  Christmas  tree  and  dance  for  the  servants.  Everybody 
received  presents — some  valuable,  all  useful  and  thoughtfully 
selected — from  the  hands  of  the  Lady  Bountiful  of  the  castle. 
A  few  of  the  tenants  on  the  estate  were  invited,  and  no  one 
was  allowed  to  depart  empty-handed.  Nicolini  was  positively 
beaming  as  he  looked  on.  He  could  be  generous  too,  when  he 
liked. 

The  feature  of  the  musical  programme  that  evening  was  an 
old  friend  in  a  fresh  guise — nothing  less  than  ' '  Una  voce ' '  with 
an  entirely  new  set  of  "changes"  or  variations.  This  had 
been  prepared  with  unerring  skill  by  Maestro  Bevignani,  and 
it  explained  how  he  had  been  spending  his  time  at  the  castle 
for  best  part  of  a  fortnight.     A  model  of  clarity,  neatness, 


308  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

and  simplicity,  ye1  demanding  faultless  vocalization,  the  new 
arrangement  did  the  Italian  musician  infinite  credit;  more- 
over, the  variations  suited  Mine.  Patti  to  perfection.  I  knew 
not  what  to  admire  most,  the  youthful  eagerness  with  which 
she  had  set  herself  to  master  this  novel  version  of  a  hackneyed 
theme,  the  rapidity  with  which  she  had  memorized  the  un- 
familiar fioriture,  or  the  consummate  ease  and  finish  with 
which  she  executed  the  whole  aria,  cadenzas  and  all,  as  if  ut- 
terly oblivious  of  the  fact  that  she  had  been  singing  it  in  a 
totally  different  form  for  more  than  thirty  years. 

We  congratulated  her  and  thanked  her  for  this  flawless  ex- 
ample of  her  art,  which  was  yet  to  earn  her  many  a  triumph 
in  public.  She  insisted  on  Bevignani  sharing  the  applause. 
Afterwards  she  said  to  me: 

"I  think  the  'changes'  are  simply  lovely.  Rossini  would 
have  been  delighted  with  them,  because  they  are  in  such 
perfect  taste  and  not  a  bit  awkward  for  the  voice.  That  was 
what  he  always  wanted.  He  never  objected  to  'changes'  un- 
less they  distorted  the  character  of  his  music." 

I  never  knew  her  more  lavish  with  her  voice  than  during 
this  merry  period.  Like  a  canary  brimming  over  with  song, 
she  would  always  chime  in  with  her  golden  notes  the  moment 
a  familiar  strain  caught  her  ear.  Sometimes  it  came  from 
the  orchestrion,  sometimes  from  myself  when  strumming 
Wagnerian  reminiscences  upon  the  Steinway  grand  in  the 
billiard-room;  or,  if  there  were  no  other  provocation,  she 
would  herself  extemporize  a  tune  upon  any  subject  that  hap- 
pened to  seize  her  fancy,  and  give  it  out  con  plena  voce. 

One  amusing  instance  of  this  occurred  while  we  were  at 
tea  a  day  or  two  before  Christmas.  We  had  been  informed 
that  the  Craig-y-Nos  chef,  an  Italian,  had  undertaken  to  cele- 
brate the  festive  season  by  making  a  huge  specimen  of  the 
Milanese  cake  known  as  a  panettone.  It  had,  I  think,  been 
intended  for  Christmas  Eve;  but,  learning  that  it  was  ready 


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THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  309 

for  consumption,  Mme.  Patti  sent  for  it,  fresh  from  the  oven 
almost,  to  be  cut  up  for  tea.  The  butler  carried  it  in  on  a 
tray  with  much  ceremony,  and  as  he  entered  the  room  the 
panettone  was  hailed  with  a  burst  of  song  from  our  hostess, 
given  out  to   these   absurdly   incongruous  words: 

"0  panettone,  cara  bestia  mia !"  x 

This  she  repeated  several  times,  amid  laughter  from  all  the 
company,  to  the  same  snatch  of  appropriate  and  characteristic 
canto  popolare.  It  sounded  so  pretty  and  quaint  that  I  wrote 
the  trifle  down  in  pencil  on  a  page  of  my  pocket-diary  and 
asked  the  singer  to  autograph  it. 

Mention  has  already  been  made  more  than  once  of  her  talent 
for  improvisation.  Her  innate  faculty  for  expressing  a 
thought  musically  was  of  the  simple  order  that  crystallizes 
itself  in  the  efforts  of  the  ballad-composer.  Anyhow,  she 
rhapsodized  in  melody ;  and,  if  the  melody  was  not  original  or 
reminded  one  of  something  heard  before,  it  could  at  least 
claim  to  be  as  good  as  many  others  that  get  written  down 
and  sung  or  played. 

Hence  the  fact  that  more  than  once  a  musical  thought  ut- 
tered by  Adelina  Patti  was  caught  and  recorded  (long  before 
the  era  of  the  gramophone)  by  some  industrious  scribbler  of 
crotchets  and  quavers,  and  so  reached  the  ultimate  glory  of 
being  engraved  and  published,  with  the  name  and  perhaps 
the  picture  of  the  renowned  vocalist,  as  its  composer,  adorn- 
ing the  front  page. 

i  Roughly  translated:     "Hail,  giant  cake,  dear  beastie  mine!" 


CHAPTER  XIX 

American  Tours  (1892-93-94) — Pizzi's  Qabriella  given  at  Boston — 
With  Verdi  in  Milan  I  L893) — False  Economy  at  the  Scala — Concerts 
in  England — Patti  Studies  Wagner  in  German — Sings  "Triiume"  at 
the  Albert  Hall — Elizabeth's  "Prayer"  and  "Voi  che  sapete'  —  Appears 
before  Queen  Victoria  at  Windsor  Castle — Suggestions  for  Pier  Return 
to  Covent  Garden — Talk  with  the  Diva  and  Negotiations  with  Au- 
gustus Harris — An  Intermediate  Continental  Tour — Debut  at  the 
Philharmonic;  Presented  with  the  Society's  Gold  Medal — Triumphant 
Reappearance  at  Covent  Garden  (1895) — Six  Farewell  Performances 
in  Opera — Complete  List  of  Patti's  Repertory 

LET  us  resume  our  story  in  so  far  as  it  deals  with  the 
more  public  episodes  iu  the  reigu  of  Patti.  That  reign 
was  now  hastening  to  its  close ;  and  its  course,  like  the  current 
of  a  broad  but  turbulent  river  when  nearing  the  ocean,  had 
become  more  tranquil  and  sedate.  It  had  been  contained  in 
an  artistic  career  of  a  length  and  character  without  precedent 
in  musical  annals.  In  the  very  nature  of  things,  it  was  bound 
to  present  fewer  features  of  absorbing  interest  as  it  ap- 
proached its  concluding  phase. 

Brief  mention  has  already  been  made  of  an  American  tour, 
which  occupied  the  winter  and  spring  of  1891-92.  There  was 
little  to  distinguish  it  from  those  that  immediately  preceded 
it;  nevertheless,  it  is  worthy  of  remark  because  the  last  that 
gave  New  Yorkers  an  opportunity  to  see  their  old  favorite  in 
operatic  representations.  She  was  now  under  the  manage- 
ment of  Messrs.  Abbey  and  Grau,  who  were  at  that  time  the 
joint  directors  of  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House.  Her  con- 
cert programmes  everywhere  included  recitals  from  operas 
given  in  costume,  with  the  support  of  a  quartet  of  singers  that 
comprised  Guerrina  Fabbri   (contralto),  Guille  (tenor),  Del 

310 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  311 

Puente    (baritone),   and  Novara    (bass),  Arditi  conducting. 

The  desire  merely  to  see  Patti  in  one  of  her  operatic  dresses, 
and  occasionally  to  hear  the  sound  of  her  voice,  was  such  that 
in  every  town  or  city  where  she  appeared  every  foot  of  stand- 
ing room  was  occupied.  From  January  until  the  middle  of 
March  she  sang  to  packed  houses ;  thus,  the  tour  proved  ex- 
ceedingly profitable,  the  receipts  (according  to  Arditi)  being 
never  under  eight  thousand  dollars,  and  often  very  much 
more.  Two  concerts  were  given  in  New  York  at  the  Metro- 
politan; then,  as  a  wind-up, — likewise,  one  might  add,  as  an 
artistic  corrective, — she  appeared  in  complete  performances 
of  "Lucia"  and  "II  Barbiere."  These  terminated  her  actual 
stage  work  in  the  United  States,  after  a  lapse  of  rather  more 
than  thirty-two  years  since  her  operatic  debut  at  the  New 
York  Academy  of  Music. 

Before  sailing  for  England  in  May  she  signed  a  contract 
with  Marcus  Mayer  for  yet  another  ' '  farewell ' '  tour,  to  begin 
in  October,  1893,  and  consisting  of  forty-five  concerts,  to  be 
spread  over  five  months.  These  were  stipulated  for  at  the 
rate  of  $4,500  each,  or  a  slight  advance  upon  the  terms  paid 
by  Abbey  and  Grau.  It  was  to  have  been  a  brilliant  finale; 
but  fortune  decreed  otherwise.  The  venture  began  badly,  for 
Mme.  Patti  had  a  terribly  rough  crossing  on  the  Lucania  (then 
making  its  first  voyage),  and  caught  a  cold  so  severe  that 
she  was  unable  to  sing  at  the  opening  concert  in  New  York. 
To  make  matters  worse,  a  serious  financial  crisis  was  going  on 
in  the  United  States,  the  effect  of  which  upon  the  receipts 
continued  to  be  pronounced  even  after  the  prima  donna  had 
regained  full  control  of  her  resources.  Not  until  the  18th  of 
November  was  she  well  enough  to  make  her  rentree  in  New 
York. 

At  Boston  she  appeared  in  a  new  one-act  opera  entitled 
"Gabriella,"  written  by  Charles  Byrne  and  composed  ex- 
pressly for  her  by  Emilio  Pizzi,  a  young  Italian  of  consider- 


312  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

able  talent  who  had  held  an  important  musical  post  at 
Bergamo — Donizetti's  native  city — and  subsequently  settled 
down  in  England.  The  critics  spoke  very  well  of  the  work, 
the  Boston  Herald  declaring  that  the  music,  like  the  story, 
was  "strongly  dramatic,  and  fitted  Mme.  Patti  like  a  glove" 
A  love  duct,  which  she  sang  with  Mr.  Durward  Lely,  brought 
down  the  house  and  had  to  be  repeated.  A  capital  scene  for 
the  baritone  and  bass  (Galassi  and  Xovara)  also  made  a  highly 
favorable  impression ;  while  at  the  close,  according  to  the  same 
journal,  the  diva  had  to  bring  Signor  Pizzi  five  times  in  front 
of  the  curtain. 

The  little  opera  was  subsequently  performed  with  tolerable 
success  in  Philadelphia,  Washington,  and  other  places.  In 
the  following  year  Mme.  Patti  gave  it  in  concert  form  at  the 
Royal  Albert  Hall,  London ;  but  its  reception  there  was  not 
sufficiently  cordial  to  warrant  further  repetitions.  Neverthe- 
less, the  music  of  "Gabriella''  was  clever  and  effective  enough 
to  have  deserved  a  better  fate. 

The  tour  of  1893-94,  owing  to  the  prevailing  financial 
troubles,  resulted  in  very  little  profit,  possibly  some  loss,  for 
Marcus  Mayer.  As  usual,  he  justified  Mme.  Patti's  confidence 
by  paying  all  the  artists  in  full.  His  obligations  to  herself 
were  also  fait li fully  discharged  until  the  company  had  re- 
turned to  New  York  on  its  way  home.  Then,  no  doubt,  there 
must  have  been  a  "screw  loose,"  for,  without  warning  to  the 
public.  Mme.  Patti  sailed  for  England  on  the  day  before  the 
last  concert,  leaving  the  unlucky  manager  to  wind  up  the  tour 
without  her.  That  she  was  not  well  advised  in  taking  this 
step  there  can  be  no  question.  It  left  behind  a  very  disagree- 
able impression. 

Pleasanter  recollections  attended  the  visit  to  the  Riviera  and 
Italy  in  January,  1893,  which  had  preceded  the  American 
tour  last  referred  to.     In  this  instance  Mme.  Patti  fulfilled 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  313 

a  number  of  operatic  engagements,  and  met  everywhere  with  a 
reception  that  must  have  reminded  her  of  old  times.  She 
appeared  at  Nice  on  January  9  in  "II  Barbiere"  before  the 
first  of  a  series  of  crowded  houses,  singing  "Una  voce"  with 
the  new  ornamentations  and  introducing  "Bel  raggio"  in  the 
Lesson  Scene.  Her  next  opera  was  "Romeo  et  Juliette";  her 
third  and  last  "La  Traviata,"  in  which  she  also  made  her 
r entree  at  La  Scala,  Milan,  on  the  20th  of  the  same  month. 

During  the  performances  in  Milan  Verdi  was  superintend- 
ing the  rehearsals  of  his  "Falstaff,"  which  was  to  be  pro- 
duced at  La  Scala  early  in  February.  He  seized  the  op- 
portunity of  being  present  when  "La  Traviata"  was  given, 
and  Mme.  Patti  afterwards  wrote  me  what  a  wonderful  night 
it  had  been : 

The  Scala  was  crowded — crammed  from  floor  to  ceiling;  numbers 
of  people  were  turned  away,  unable  to  obtain  seats.  My  reception 
was  simply  grand,  everybody  standing  up  to  greet  me.  The  en- 
thusiasm was  so  great  throughout  the  performance  that  Verdi,  who 
was  in  a  box  with  Ricordi,1  actually  wept  tears  of  joy  and  delight. 
It  appears  he  said  to  Bevignani  that  my  phrasing  was  too  touching 
for  words  and  that  I  sang  divinely ! 

The  only  drawback  was  that  the  support  was  unworthy  of 
the  leading  artist.  The  tenor  made  a  fiasco  at  the  outset,  and 
was  hissed;  the  baritone  sang  flat  as  the  heavy  father.  The 
chorus  was  inferior.  The  orchestra,  under  Mascheroni,  alone 
did  well.  (The  Scala  had  had  a  bad  season,  and  was  econo- 
mizing so  as  to  make  all  it  could  out  of  Patti,  while  sparing 
nothing  to  launch  "Falstaff"  in  brilliant  fashion.)  Yet  the 
audience  cheered  her  for  minutes  at  a  stretch,  and  accorded 
Verdi  a  rapturous  ovation  after  the  prelude  to  the  fourth  act. 
Indeed,  it  was  by  far  the  most  emphatic  triumph  that  Patti 

1  Giulio  di  Tito  Pucordi,  head  of  the  famous  Milanese  publishing 
house,  and  now  some  years  deceased. 


314  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

ever  achieved  in  this  historic  opera  bouse.  After  two  more 
appearances  she  wenl  on  to  Florence  and  thence  to  Nice, 
where  she  remained  until  the  middle  of  .March. 

On  her  return  to  England  she  entered  upon  an  extended 
provincial  tour  under  the  management  of  Percy  Harrison,  and 
sang  twice  in  London  at  the  Albert  Hall  with  her  wonted 
success.  The  July  concert  was  further  rendered  notable  by 
the  last  appearance  but  one  in  public  of  the  celebrated  Eng- 
lish contralto,  Madame  Patey,  whose  majestic  delivery  on  that 
occasion  of  Handel's  "Lascia  ch'io  pianga"  will  never  be  for- 
gotten. 

The  first  two  or  three  weeks  of  Mme.  Patti's  holiday  in 
Wales  were  marred  by  an  attack  of  rheumatism  in  the  knee, 
which  caused  her  acute  suffering.  It  had  disappeared  by  the 
end  of  July,  but  she  afterwards  became  rather  subject  to  com- 
plaints of  a  rheumatic  and  neuralgic  type. 

It  was  at  about  this  period  (1893-94)  that  the  idea  of  sing- 
ing some  not  over-exacting  composition  by  Richard  Wagner 
first  occurred  to  the  greatest  living  exponent  of  the  old  Italian 
school.  She  listened  with  manifest  enjoyment  to  the  long- 
drawn  mclos  and  complex  harmonics  of  his  later  works.  She 
was  particularly  fond  of  "Tristan"  and  "Die  Meister- 
singer."  What  her  orchestrion  did  not  furnish  at  home  in 
the  way  of  selections  she  would  often  ask  me,  when  at  the 
piano,  to  provide.  Not  for  a  few  years  yet  was  she  to  yield 
to  the  allurements  of  Bayreuth  and  experience  the  unique 
delights  of  the  Biihnenf  est  spiel.  But  she  had  heard  most  of 
the  repertory  well  performed  in  London  and  elsewhere.  She 
was  longing  to  try  over  some  "singable"  Wagner,  and,  above 
all,  to  sing  him  to  original  text. 

One  day  a  musical  friend — I  believe  it  was  one  of  the  Eiss- 
lers — brought  Mme.  Patti  a  copy  of  the  song  "Traume,"  or 
"Studie  zu  Tristan  und  Isolde,"  which  belongs  to  the  set  of 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  315 

Fiinf  Gedichte  composed  by  Wagner  in  1862.  It  was  just 
what  she  wanted;  that  is  to  say,  not  too  long  or  trying  for 
her  voice,  yet  a  characteristic  bit  of  advanced  Wagner.  She 
began  studying  it  in  April,  1894,  soon  after  her  return  from 
America,  and  was  so  pleased  with  the  experiment  that  she 
decided  to  sing  it  in  public  at  her  next  Albert  Hall  concert, 
which  was  fixed  for  May  21.  She  had  been  able  since  the 
early  Vienna  days  to  converse  in  German  with  tolerable  flu- 
ency, and  with  the  same  musical  accent  that  her  quick  ear 
enabled  her  to  attain  in  every  language  she  spoke.  But,  hav- 
ing never  actually  sting  in  German,  she  asked  me  to  go  over 
the  song  with  her  a  few  times  before  the  concert. 

However,  there  was  little  to  do  beyond  making  sugges- 
tions as  to  breathing-places  in  the  longer  passages,  which  are 
rather  awkward  to  phrase.  In  the  matter  of  pronunciation 
I  found  scarcely  anything  to  criticize.  Her  interpretation 
was  marked  by  thorough  understanding,  allied  to  her  usual 
intensity  of  expression  and  musical  feeling.  It  was  a  pleas- 
ure to  hear  the  familiar  harmonies  played,  so  to  speak,  to  a 
new  obbligato  supplied  by  the  rich  medium  notes  of  the  Patti 
voix  d'or — pure,  sustained,  luscious,  a  veritable  inspiration 
for  "wondrous  dreams."     I  remember  her  solitary  complaint: 

"It  is  a  beautiful  song,  and  I  shall  love  to  sing  it;  but 
there  is  not  a  single  resting-place  where  I  can  stop  to  swallow. 
From  first  to  last,  the  voice  goes  on  without  interruption. 
It  is  that  which  fatigues;  and  it  is  one  of  the  things  that 
make  Wagner  hard  to  sing.     Still,  I  shall  do  my  best." 

Her  "best"  proved  to  be  quite  superlative.  Accustomed 
as  she  was  to  the  Albert  Hall,  its  vast  area  made  her  task 
no  harder  in  reality  than,  say,  her  mezzo,  voce  delivery  of 
"Home,  sweet  home."  Every  note,  every  syllable,  could  be 
plainly  heard  by  the  remotest  listener;  each  phrase  in  turn 
was  admirably  balanced ;  there  was  no  sign  of  undue  haste ; 
the  meaning  of  the  song  was  perfectly  caught  and  conveyed. 


316  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

A  more  artistic  rendering  of  "Traume"  could  hardly  have 
been  imagined.  The  new  departure  therefore  proved  an  en- 
tire success.  The  critics  were  decidedly  pleased,  the  Daily 
Telegraph  remarking:  "It  seems  a  pity  that  the  experiment 
should  have  been  delayed  so  long,  for  the  famous  singer  de- 
lighted her  hearers  to  such  an  extent  that  not  only  did  they 
demand  a  repetition  of  the  piece,  but  subsequently  exacted  a 
further  encore  in  the  shape  of  Tosti's  graceful  'Serenata.' 

After  this  it  was  only  natural  that  she  should  decide  to  at- 
tempt something  more — perhaps  a  selection  from  one  of  Wag- 
ner's earlier  operas.  We  discussed  the  idea  prior  to  her 
return  to  Wales,  and  it  was  settled  that  she  should  study 
Elizabeth's  "Prayer,"  from  "Tannhauser,"  for  the  final  Al- 
bert Hall  concert  of  the  season  on  July  7.  I  feared  this  might 
prove  something  of  an  ordeal,  seeing  how  much  longer  and 
more  sustained  it  is  than  "Traume."  But  Mme.  Patti  had  no 
doubt  about  her  ability  to  manage  the  "Prayer"  with  ease; 
and  the  event  proved  her  judgment  to  be  correct.  In  regard 
to  this  I  will  quote  what  appeared  in  the  Sunday  Times  the 
day  after  the  concert : 

The  "Prayer"  from  "Tannhauser"  requires,  as  most  people  know, 
a  steady,  sustained  tone,  perfect  management  of  the  breath,  and  the 
purest  legato  singing.  These  qualities  Mme.  Patti  brought  to  bear 
upon  her  task  in  fullest  measure,  as  might,  indeed,  any  other  great 
Wagnerian  artist.  But  in  alliance  with  them  there  were  beauty  of 
tone,  delicacy  and  intelligence  of  phrasing,  accuracy  of  intonation, 
and  clearness  of  enunciation  such  as  one  never  hears  in  this  touch- 
ing prayer,  either  in  or  out  of  the  opera.  In  a  word,  the  rendering 
was  incomparably  fine.  .  .  .  Her  triumph  yesterday  was  extraordi- 
nary. A  pin  might  have  been  heard  to  drop  whilst  she  was  singing, 
and  at  the  close  there  was  an  outburst  of  enthusiasm  from  all  parts 
of  the  hall.  Mme.  Patti  returned  to  the  platform,  and  with  the 
utmost  generosity  sang  the  piece  a  second  time,  to  the  unmeasured 
delight  of  the  vast  audience. 


IN  THE  LATE   SIXTIES 
Prom  a  painting  by  Winterhalter 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  317 

So  much  for  Patti's  ambition  to  sing  the  music  of  "Wagner 
— and  in  his  own  language.  It  was  but  a  sample,  of  course, 
and  the  execution  of  a  single  piece  is  a  vastly  different  thing 
from  the  arduous  task  of  undertaking  an  entire  role.  But 
this  born  artist  knew  by  instinct  her  own  limitations  ever 
better  than  some  of  her  critics  and  most  of  her  friends.  Noth- 
ing, for  instance,  could  have  induced  her,  after  an  active  span 
of  thirty-five  years  upon  the  operatic  stage,  suddenly  to  at- 
tempt Elizabeth  or  Elsa.  She  had  demonstrated  what  she 
was  capable  of  doing  if  she  cared  to,  and  that  embodied  the 
sum  total  of  her  ambition  in  this  direction.  It  is  true  that  we 
made  a  study  together  of  the  "Lohengrin"  excerpt  known  as 
"Elsa's  Dream";  but,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  she  never  sang 
it  in  an  English  concert-room. 

The  summer  of  1894  was  spent  very  quietly  at  Craig- 
y-Nos  Castle.  The  usual  Welsh  charity  concert  was  again 
due  at  Swansea,  and  it  was  given  there  on  July  12. 
It  was  the  last  of  these  functions  in  which  Nicolini  took 
an  active  part.  He  had  not  been  announced  to  appear, 
for  his  health  was  not  so  reliable  now  as  formerly.  Various 
physical  ailments  made  him  anticipate  with  dread  the  exertion 
of  singing  before  an  audience.  Nevertheless,  he  had  his  good 
days,  and  this  was  one  of  them ;  so,  when  it  became  known  that 
Durward  Lely  had  not  returned  from  America  in  time  for  the 
concert,  Nicolini  readily  consented  to  take  his  place.  What 
is  more,  he  sang  "Salve  dimora"  as  he  had  not  sung  it  for 
many  a  year.  Even  his  famous  ut  de  poitrine  (or  high  C) 
was  willing  to  oblige  on  this  occasion.  Wilhelm  Ganz  was,  of 
course,  at  the  piano,  and  Marianne  Eissler  played  the  violin 
obbligato. 

This  was  the  summer  when  the  gifted  violin-player,  August 
Wilhelm j,  visited  Craig-y-Nos  for  the  only  time.  He  was 
already  there  when  I  arrived  for  a  short  stay,  and  I  found 


:;is  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Nicolini  monopolizing  nearly  the  whole  of  his  time  in  tonal 
experiments  with  the  wonderful  examples  of  Stradivarius  and 
Guarnerius  which  Ernest  had  "picked  up"  (for  a  few  thou- 
sand dollars  apiece)  during  his  more  recent  peregrinations  in 
the  United  States.  The  collection  of  these  beautiful  old  in- 
struments was  rapidly  becoming  an  expensive  hobby  of  Nico- 
lini \s,  and,  though  he  could  play  a  little,  he  was  wholly  in- 
capable of  doing  them  justice. 

Wilhelmj,  like  his  host,  had  also  retired  from  public  life, 
but  he  could  still  bring  forth  his  old  magnificent  tone  from  a 
genuine  Cremona,  and  it  was  a  treat  to  hear  him  do  so  when 
in  the  right  humor.  I  shall  always  remember  how  grandly 
he  played  his  transcription  of  the  "Preislied"  one  afternoon, 
with  Clara  Eissler  at  the  harp  as  his  accompanist.  Surely 
no  violin  virtuoso  ever  lived  who  could  extract  a  similar  vol- 
ume of  noble  tone  from  his  instrument. 

During  his  stay  Mme.  Patti  prevailed  upon  Wilhelmj  to 
play  the  obbligato  for  her  in  Gounod's  "Meditation"  upon 
the  Bach  prelude.  He  consented  readily  enough,  albeit  I 
gathered  that  his  admiration  for  the  French  master's  popular 
arrangement  was  less  profound  than  that  of  the  singer.  The 
melody  of  the  "Ave  Maria,"  however,  is  not  unworthy  of  the 
composer  of  "Faust,"  and  assuredly  no  one  else  ever  sang 
it  as  Patti  did — that  is,  with  her  electrifying  fervor,  elan, 
and  gorgeous  beauty  of  voice.  On  the  present  occasion  Clara 
Eissler  executed  the  exquisite  arpeggi  of  the  prelude,  and  I 
had  the  privilege  of  playing  the  harmonium  part.  It  may 
be  added  that  full  justice  was  done  to  the  wonderful  crescendo 
that  forms  the  climax  of  the  piece,  where  voice  and  violin 
united  with  extraordinary  richness  of  effect. 

In  September  Nicolini  was  much  cast  down  by  the  news  of 
the  death  of  his  cousin,  the  clever  French  composer  Emmanuel 
Chabrier,  to  whom  he  bore  a  considerable  resemblance.  He 
was  an  immense  admirer  of  Chabrier 's  talent  and  had  sev- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  319 

eral  of  his  compositions  arranged  for  the  orchestrion,  among 
them  the  well-known  rhapsody  "Espafia,"  and  a  selection 
from  his  opera  "Gwendoline."  The  instant  the  former  was 
started,  Mme.  Patti  would  seize  her  castanets  and  accompany 
the  brilliant  waltz  air  with  tremendous  vivacity  and  enjoy- 
ment. Poor  Chabrier !  His  advanced  ideas  did  not  appeal 
to  his  own  generation;  yet,  had  he  written  "Gwendoline"  a 
few  years  earlier,  the  title-role  would  undoubtedly  have  been 
presented  to  English  audiences  by  the  diva  herself.  He  might 
not  then  have  died  of  disappointment  in  a  lunatic  asylum. 

The  feature  of  the  autumn  concert  tour  of  1894  was  the 
extraordinary  furore  aroused  by  Mme.  Patti 's  delivery  of  her 
two  Wagner  "numbers,"  one  or  both  of  which  had  to  be  in- 
cluded in  every  programme.  The  newspapers  in  Scotland  and 
the  North  were  ecstatic  on  the  subject.  To  understand  this 
fully  it  must  be  remembered  that  Wagnerian  music  in  the 
provinces,  alike  on  the  stage  and  in  the  concert-room,  was 
just  then  attaining  the  apex  of  its  pristine  popularity;  thus, 
the  master's  new  British  worshippers  found  an  extra  joy  in 
listening  to  the  veriest  trifles  from  his  vast  store  when  ren- 
dered with  the  incomparable  voice  and  art  of  their  favorite 
singer. 

She  reserved,  however,  for  her  London  concert  (Albert 
Hall,  November  28)  yet  another  bonne  bouche,  in  the  shape  of 
Mozart's  "Voi  che  sapete,"  which,  oddly  enough,  had  never 
before  found  its  way  into  her  repertory.  The  reason  was 
simply  that  until  quite  recently  it  had  not  been  her  habit  to 
sing  selected  arias  from  operas  other  than  those  belonging 
to  her  own  round  of  characters.  For  an  ideal  interpreter  of 
"Batti,  batti,"  and  "Vedrai  carino,"  her  choice  of  Mozart 
pieces  had  long  been  absurdly  restricted.  Yet,  because  she 
had  never  played  Cherubino  or  kept  her  (or  Mr.  Gye's)  prom- 
ise to  attempt  Susanna,  she  had  refrained  hitherto  from  sing- 


320  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

ing  their  music.  Hence  the  regrettable  fact  that  no  audi- 
ence ever  heard  her  in  one  of  Mozart's  most  inspired  airs — 
perhaps  the  gem  of  his  immortal  Nozzc — to  wit,  "Deh  vieni, 
non  tardar ! "  * 

But  after  a  little  hesitation  she  took  up  "Voi  che  sapete," 
happily  in  time  to  invest  it  with  all  her  wonted  loveliness  of 
tone  and  a  piquant  charm  that  even  Pauline  Lucca — greatest 
of  Cherubinos — had  never  surpassed.  To  these  qualities  she 
added  a  perfection  of  bel  canto  such  as  no  contemporary 
singer,  excepting  perhaps  Marcella  Sembrich,  could  contrive 
to  approach.  The  effect  of  the  combination  in  the  vast  area 
of  the  Albert  Hall  was  quite  astonishing.  Above  everything 
else  stood  out  the  faultless  purity  and  steadiness  with  which 
the  melody  was  sustained ;  and  when  I  spoke  of  this  to  Mme. 
Patti  after  the  concert,  she  replied: 

"I  am  glad  it  sounded  well;  for,  to  tell  you  the  truth,  I 
was  so  horribly  nervous  that  I  hardly  knew  what  I  was  doing. 
I  would  have  loved  to  stop  and  take  a  good  deep  breath  some- 
where, and — swallow!"  Yet  no  one  would  have  guessed  it. 
Her  resources  had  appeared  to  be  under  complete  control — as 
no  doubt  they  were,  despite  nerves,  increasing  years,  and  the 
rest  of  it.  Such  was  the  incalculable  advantage  to  be  derived 
from  long  experience  and  an  impeccable  method  of  ' '  diaphrag- 
matic breathing." 

Early  in  December,  1894,  Mme.  Patti  received  her  first 
"command"  to  sing  privately  before  Queen  Victoria  at  Wind- 
sor Castle.  Her  visit  was  replete  with  gratifying  incident. 
To  describe  it  in  her  own  words: 

"The  Queen  was  gracious  beyond  measure.  She  paid  me 
the  unusual  honor  of  directing  that  I  should  remain  at  the 

i  She  made  up  for  it,  perhaps,  by  her  delicious  rendering  of  Lotti's 
"Pur  dicesti,"  which  she  introduced  at  about  the  same  time  as  "Voi  che 
sapete." 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  321 

castle  for  the  night,  so  as  to  spare  me  the  fatigue  of  the  late 
journey  back  to  town.  Ganz  went  with  me  and  of  course 
played  my  accompaniments.  Her  Majesty  received  me  with 
the  utmost  amiability,  and  expressed  great  pleasure  at  hear- 
ing me  again  after  many  years.  She  conversed  with  me  in  the 
sweetest  manner  between  each  of  my  pieces.  Naturally,  at 
the  end  I  sang  'Home,  sweet  home,'  and  I  could  see  that  it 
brought  tears  to  the  dear  Queen's  eyes.  She  was  really  deeply 
moved.  On  my  return  to  Wales  the  following  day  I  found 
this  telegram,  signed  by  the  Dowager  Lady  Southampton: 
'Am  desired  by  her  Majesty  to  say  the  Queen  hopes  you  had 
a  good  journey  and  were  not  fatigued.'  Then  came  a  signed 
picture  and  a  beautiful  brooch-pin  with  the  royal  crown  and 
monogram,  which  I  shall  never  cease  to  prize.  Ganz,  too, 
received  a  cigar-case  mounted  in  gold." 

It  was  at  Craig-y-Nos  during  the  Christmas  recess  that 
Mme.  Patti  told  me  this.  I  remember  well  that  brief  but 
lively  fortnight.  Into  it  we  squeezed  every  imaginable  gaiety 
for  which  the  castle  afforded  facilities,  including  dances,  din- 
ners, a  matinee  musicale,  a  pantomime,  and  all  the  customary 
Christmas  observances  previously  described  in  these  pages. 
But  it  was  also  noteworthy  for  something  else. 

I  had  long  cherished  the  idea  of  inducing  the  diva  to  ap- 
pear once  again,  for  a  series  of  farewell  performances,  upon 
the  historic  stage  that  had  witnessed  her  greatest  triumphs 
from  the  time  of  her  debut  in  Great  Britain.  Many  difficul- 
ties had  stood  in  the  way  of  this  project,  and  some  of  them 
have  already  been  incidentally  touched  upon.  The  most 
serious  obstacle,  perhaps,  was  her  own  disinclination  to  sing 
in  opera  again  in  London  after  a  lapse  of  seven  or  eight  years. 
Hardly  less  important  were  the  conflicting  interests  presented 
by  the  Covent  Garden  conditions  on  one  hand  and  the  Harri- 
son concert  contract  on  the  other. 

However,   I   had  ventured   to   sound   both   Sir   Augustus 


;]22  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Harris  and  Mr.  Percy  Harrison,  and  had  found,  to  my  agree- 
able surprise,  that  those  gentlemen  were  now  willing  to  meet 
Mine.  Patti's  wishes — whatever  they  might  be — in  the  matter. 
In  other  words,  if  she  would  consent  to  appear  at  Covent 
Garden  for  a  limited  number  of  nights  at  terms  considered 
"possible"  by  Sir  Augustus,  Mr.  Harrison  was  ready  to  re- 
linquish for  the  nonce  his  claim  upon  her  exclusive  services 
in  the  United  Kingdom. 

Would  she  ever  again  sing  anywhere  in  opera?  That  was 
the  question.  She  had  never  definitely  asserted  as  much. 
She  had  declared  over  and  over  again  that  her  ambitions  as 
a  lyric  artist  were  now  wholly  satisfied;  or,  at  least,  such  of 
them  as  could  attain  realization  in  the  pastime  indulged  in 
her  own  theatre.  Nicolini's  reply,  when  the  query  was  put 
to  him,  had  been  an  emphatic  "No!"  But  the  last  word 
would  not  rest  with  him.  Fortunately,  as  it  happened,  a 
decision  on  this  particular  point  had  already  come  about  in 
a  most  unexpected  way,  and  at  what  may  justly  be  termed  the 
psychological  moment. 

Down  to  September,  1894,  no  future  arrangements  had 
been  completed,  and,  so  far  as  any  one  knew,  no  negotiations 
were  in  progress.  On  the  15th  of  that  month,  however,  Mme. 
Patti  wrote  me  that  she  had  had  many  tempting  offers  from 
the  Continent  for  the  following  winter — so  many,  in  fact, 
"that  I  have  had  great  difficulty  in  deciding  which  to  accept." 
But  in  reality  she  had  decided;  for  she  added,  "I  have  at 
last  signed  contracts  to  sing  several  times  in  opera  at  Nice, 
soon  after  Christmas,  and  then  at  concerts  in  Germany  and 
Austria. ' ' 

In  "opera"!  That  was  the  word  that  set  me  thinking. 
If  she  was  willing  to  sing  in  opera  at  Nice,  why  should  she 
not  do  so  in  London?  Sometime  in  October  I  broached  the 
subject  to  Sir  Augustus  Harris.     He  welcomed  the  idea  gladly, 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  323 

and  named  the  highest  fee  he  would  be  in  a  position  to  offer. 
It  was  to  be  £300  a  night — the  highest  cachet  ever  paid  to  any 
artist  at  Covent  Garden,  yet  less  than  half  the  sum  that  Mme. 
Patti  received  from  Harrison  each  time  she  sang  at  the  Albert 
Hall.     He  added : 

"I  haven't  the  least  hope  that  you  will  succeed  in  per- 
suading her  to  sing  at  Covent  Garden  at  those  terms;  but 
you  may  try  if  you  like,  and  you  can  also  see  whether  Percy 
Harrison  will  give  his  consent!" 

' ' How  long  do  you  give  me?" 

"Until  the  end  of  the  year." 

' '  Good.  She  is  now  on  tour,  and  I  would  rather  not  nego- 
tiate a  delicate  affair  like  this  by  correspondence.  She  has 
invited  me  to  stay  with  her  at  Christmas,  and  then  will  be 
my  opportunity." 

It  came  one  morning  when  I  was  accompanying  my  hostess 
in  her  exercise  stroll  round  the  winter  garden.  She  spoke  of 
the  plans  for  her  approaching  Continental  journey. 

"You  know,  the  arrangements  have  been  slightly  altered. 
I  am  not  going  to  Nice  until  after  the  concert  tour.  I  shall 
leave  on  January  10  for  Berlin,  and  sing  there  on  the  18th. 
Then  we  go  direct  to  Vienna,  where  I  appear  on  the  22d. 
Afterwards,  on  the  way  back,  I  have  two  more  dates  in  Ger- 
many, at  Leipzig  and  Dresden;  and  from  there  we  go  on  to 
Nice,  where  I  am  to  sing  early  in  February. ' ' 

' '  In  what  operas  will  you  sing  at  Nice  ? ' ' 

"In  'Traviata,'  'Romeo  et  Juliette,'  'Barbiere,'  and  'Lu- 
cia.' " 

"Lucky  Nice!" 

She  laughed.     "Why  do  you  say  that?" 

' '  Because  the  Riviera  is  so  much  more  fortunate  than  Lon- 
don, where  everybody  is  pining  to  hear  you  in  opera  just 
once  again." 

"Everybody!     The  old  subscribers,  the  vieille  garde,  per- 


324  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

haps.  But  tnere  is  a  new  generation  at  Covent  Garden  now; 
are  they  equally  interested?" 

"Can  there  be  any  doubt?  They  go  to  hear  you  at  the 
Albert  Hall,  and  go  away  wishing  for  more." 

"But  Harris—" 

"Say  rather  Harrison!"  And  then  I  unfolded  my  mission 
with  all  the  necessary  diplomacy  and  care.  She  listened  at- 
tentively and  nodded  her  head  very  graciously. 

"I  will  talk  it  over  with  Ernest  and  Percy,  and  to-morrow 
you  shall  know.  I  am  not  altogether  sure  whether  I  want  to ; 
but  we  will  see." 

Next  day  it  was  settled  that  she  would  meet  "Gus"  on  the 
evening  of  January  10  on  her  way  through  London,  and,  if 
practicable,  arrange  with  him  for  six  performances  at  Covent 
Garden,  to  be  given  late  in  the  summer  season. 

The  meeting  between  Mme.  Patti  and  Sir  Augustus  Harris 
did  not  take  place  until  January  12  (1895),  the  departure 
from  Wales  having  been  postponed  for  a  couple  of  days.  I 
went  with  the  impresario  to  Pacldington  Station  and  kept 
him  in  good  spirits  while  we  waited  for  the  train.  As  a  rule 
he  was  the  most  sanguine  of  men,  but  in  this  instance  he 
seemed  to  labor  under  an  apprehension  that  something  un- 
toward would  happen  to  prevent  the  fulfilment  of  his  plan. 
I  assured  him  that  every  obstacle  had  been  removed;  but  he 
remained  sceptical,  I  think,  until  he  saw  his  old  friend  Ade- 
lina  step  vivaciously  from  her  saloon  carriage  and,  greetings 
over,  take  his  arm  to  walk  into  the  hotel.  Then  his  doubts 
vanished.1 

Both  were  looking  very  happy  when  I  rejoined  them  after 
their  brief  conference,  and  even  Nicolini's  thin  countenance 
was  wreathed  in  smiles.  The  prima  donna  whispered  that  she 
was  already  looking  forward  to  singing  at   Covent  Garden 

i  "Thirty  Years  of  Musical  Life  in  London,"  p.  323. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  325 

again,  though  it  would  not  be  until  the  middle  of  June.  She 
was  evidently  tired,  so  we  wished  her  bon  voyage  and  quickly 
withdrew.  On  the  following  day  she  left  for  Berlin,  and 
twenty-four  hours  later  the  news  was  made  public  that  Patti 's 
reappearance  at  the  Royal  Opera  would  be  one  of  the  features 
of  the  coming  season. 

The  first  part  of  the  tour  abroad  was  marred  by  one  slight 
contretemps.  After  triumphant  successes  at  Berlin  and 
Vienna,  Mme.  Patti  caught  cold  and  was  unable  to  sing  at 
Leipzig.  She  recovered,  however,  in  time  to  keep  her  engage- 
ment at  Dresden  on  January  29,  and  in  due  course  began  at 
Nice  (on  February  4)  a  series  of  operatic  representations 
which,  by  reason  of  their  extraordinary  brilliancy,  excited 
more  than  local  attention  and  comment.  The  cosmopolitan 
audiences  that  frequent  the  capital  of  the  Riviera  were  from 
first  to  last  in  a  fever  of  unbounded  enthusiasm,  and  the  diva 
herself  was  fain  to  confess,  in  a  letter  to  the  present  writer, 
that  her  appearances  in  the  four  operas  had  yielded  "a  con- 
tinual succession  of  triumphs,"  whereof  an  "extra  perform- 
ance" of  "II  Barbiere"  was  perhaps  the  most  remarkable. 

Additional  appearances  were  asked  for,  but  not  conceded. 
Mme.  Patti  was  always  willing  to  combine  business  with  pleas- 
ure when  she  paid  a  winter  visit  to  the  South  of  France,  but 
in  this  instance  she  took  care  not  to  risk  removing  the  bloom 
of  freshness  from  her  voice.  Soon  after  her  rentree  at  Nice 
she  celebrated  her  fifty-second  birthday,  and  therewith  com- 
pleted her  forty-fifth  year  of  practically  uninterrupted  work 
as  a  public  singer.  Well  might  she  write,  "I  am  really  be- 
ginning to  believe  what  they  all  tell  me — that  I  am  a  won- 
derful little  woman ! ' '  The  great  point  at  this  juncture  was 
that  she  had  shown  the  necessary  strength  and  activity  to  re- 
sume occasional  excursions  into  the  region  of  opera.  Her  re- 
appearance at  Covent  Garden  could  now,  therefore,  be  antici- 
pated with  entire  confidence. 


326  THE  RE1CN  OF  PATTI 

She  left  Nice  on  March  24  for  Paris  and  London,  and, 
after  four  days'  detention  at  Calais  by  a  heavy  gale,  crossed 
the  Channel  on  the  31st.  She  then  remained  in  the  metrop- 
olis for  the  Philharmonic  Concert  at  Queen's  Hall  on  April 
3,  to  sing  at  which  she  had  accepted  the  invitation  of  the  di- 
rectors, who  in  return  were  to  bestow  upon  the  illustrious 
singer  their  once  coveted  and  still  rarely  bestowed  gold  medal. 

It  was  her  debut  with  this  society,  and  the  promised  dis- 
tinction was  well  earned,  for  she  drew  an  overflowing  audi- 
ence and  proved  to  be  in  remarkably  good  voice.  After  she 
had  sung  "Una  voce"  and,  for  an  encore,  "Voi  che  sapete," 
Mme.  Patti  was  led  back  to  the  platform  by  Dr.  W.  H.  Cum- 
mings,  the  treasurer,  and  Mr.  Francesco  Berger,  the  secre- 
tary of  the  society.  The  former  read  a  brief  address,  in  which 
he  referred  to  the  pleasure  she  had  given  to  all  lovers  of  music 
in  every  great  city  in  the  Old  and  New  Worlds,  to  her  beauti- 
ful voice,  and  to  her  histrionic  genius,  which  had  received 
universal  recognition.  Then,  wishing  her  "long  life  and  every 
happiness,"  Dr.  Cummings  tied  round  her  neck  a  ribbon  to 
which  was  attached  the  gold  medal,  bearing  on  one  side  the 
head  of  Beethoven  and  on  the  other  the  inscription:  "Pre- 
sented by  the  Philharmonic  Society  of  London;  founded 
MDCCCXIII." 

The  brief  ceremonial  ended  amid  a  hurricane  of  applause, 
which  ceased  only  when  the  artist  again  came  forward  to  sing 
"Home,  sweet  home."  From  any  other  lips  the  well-worn 
ballad  would  have  sounded  sadly  out  of  place  at  a  Philhar- 
monic Concert;  but  not  from  hers.  The  renewed  cheers,  too, 
were  spontaneous  enough  to  indicate  that  the  contribution  was 
precisely  what  the  Philharmonic  audience  had  hoped  for.  Al- 
together the  event  passed  off  with  a  good  deal  of  eclat  and 
conferred  obvious  pleasure  upon  all  who  shared  in  it. 

On  Tuesday,  June  11,  1895,  Adelina  Patti  reappeared  at 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  327 

Covent  Garden  as  Violetta  in  "La  Traviata,"  after  an  ab- 
sence of  exactly  ten  years  from  the  historic  boards  upon  which 
she  first  sang  in  England.1  For  a  whole  month  the  season  at 
the  Royal  Opera  had  been  in  full  swing.  The  de  Reszkes  had 
not  yet  arrived ;  but  Melba  was  there ;  Tamagno  had  been 
singing  with  Albani  in  "Otello"  and  with  Giulia  Ravogli  in 
"Le  Prophete";  Plancon  had  appeared  in  Bo'ito's  "Mefisto- 
fele";  further,  there  had  just  occurred  a  notable  revival 
of  Verdi's  "Falstaff  "  and  the  production  of  Frederic  Cowen's 
new  opera  "Harold."  Altogether  the  attractions  of  the  gen- 
eral bill  were  quite  up  to  the  level  associated  with  the  palmy 
days  of  the  Harris  regime. 

Nevertheless,  it  is  no  more  than  bare  truth  to  state  that  the 
interest  of  these  doings  was  cast  into  the  shade  by  the  excite- 
ment that  Patti  's  promised  return  had  by  now  aroused  among 
London  opera-goers.  The  rush  for  places  at  the  libraries  was 
a  vivid  reminder  of  old  times ;  the  prices  paid  for  them  recalled 
the  extravagant  figures  recorded  in  connection  with  the  famous 
bygone  Patti  nights.  Society  was  fairly  agog  in  anticipa- 
tion of  an  experience  now  regarded  almost  as  a  tradition — an 
experience  whereof  the  most  brilliant  Melba  and  de  Reszke 
nights  never  furnished  more  than  a  faint  replica.  While, 
therefore,  every  seat  was  sold  days  beforehand,  the  "old 
guard"  began  forming  its  queue  at  the  gallery  entrance  be- 
fore midday  on  the  morning  of  the  performance.  At  night 
the  house  was  packed  to  repletion  in  every  part,  and  the  Prince 
and  Princess  of  Wales,  with  their  three  daughters  and  the 
Duke  and  Duchess  of  York  (the  present  King  and  Queen), 
occupied  the  royal  box. 

To  the  artist  herself  this  return  signified  quite  as  much 
as  it  did  to  the  public,  who  now  welcomed  her  with  rapturous 

1  She  had  been  heard  in  opera  in  London  once  during  the  season  of 
1887,  but  that,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  on  the  occasion  of  her  first 
(and  last)   appearance  at  Her  Majesty's  Theatre. 


328  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

enthusiasm  to  a  scene  that  she  was  generally  supposed — not 
without  good  reason — to  have  quitted  for  ever.1  She  had  been 
exceedingly  nervous  for  hours,  nay,  for  days  before.  Chat- 
ting about  it  subsequently,  she  said  to  me : 

"When  I  made  my  entr}-,  when  I  looked  across  the  foot- 
lights at  the  familiar  picture,  as  I  went  on  bowing  again  and 
again,  while  the  storm  of  applause  seemed  as  if  it  would  never 
cease,  I  felt  more  like  breaking  down  and  crying  than  sing- 
ing. But  after  we  had  sat  down  to  the  supper-table  and  De 
Lucia  [the  Alfredo]  had  begun  the  'Libiamo,'  I  suddenly  re- 
gained my  confidence  and  courage.  I  never  lost  them  again. 
I  think  I  never  sang  my  'Libiamo'  better!" 

In  many  respects  she  had  never  sung  the  whole  opera  bet- 
ter. In  a  dramatic  sense,  she  had  never  been  such  an  ideal 
Violetta.  The  effortless  carrying  power  of  her  tone,  its  un- 
diminished purity  and  freshness,  astounded  listeners  whose 
memories  of  her  went  back  a  quarter  of  a  century  and  more. 
To  complete  the  miracle,  she  was  still  the  graceful,  elegant, 
youthful-looking  Patti  of  yore,  defiant  as  ever  of  the  lapse  of 
time.  In  the  Ball  Scene  of  the  third  act,  above  all,  she  was 
now  a  radiant,  dazzling  figure,  the  counterpart  of  whom  had 
never  been  seen  on  this  stage. 

For  this  scene  Mme.  Patti  had  conceived  the  idea  of  wear- 
ing a  magnificent  white  dress,  the  corsage  of  which  was 
studded  with  hundreds  of  large  diamonds,  dismounted  for 
the  occasion  from  their  settings  in  some  of  her  finest  jewels. 
This  mass  of  coruscating  brilliants  gave  the  effect  of  a  veri- 
table blaze  of  light ;  and  its  extraordinary  beauty  was  on  a 
par  with  the  value  of  the  collection,  which,  according  to  M. 
Xicolini,  amounted  to  fully  £200,000.  It  contained  in  all 
thirty-seven  hundred  stones,  and  these  had  been  mounted  by 
one  of  the  leading  Paris  jewellers  upon  a  kind  of  cuirass  ex- 
tending  over  the  back  as  well  as  the  front  of  the  corsage.     At 

i  See  Appendix  AA. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  329 

the  end  of  the  season  the  diamonds  were  restored  to  the  va- 
rious objects  from  which  they  had  been  temporarily  removed. 
The  Daily  News  had  the  following  paragraph  on  the  sub- 
ject: 

To-morrow  night  another  opportunity  will  be  afforded  at  the 
opera  of  seeing  the  Patti  costumes  and  the  Patti  diamonds,  which  in 
"La  Traviata"  last  Tuesday  shared  the  honours  even  with  Mme.  Patti's 
singing.  The  value  of  these  gems,  said  to  be  upwards  of  £70,000, 
has  rendered  necessary  certain  precautions  at  the  opera  house ;  where 
a  couple  of  individuals  not  wholly  unknown  at  the  Bow  Street  es- 
tablishment opposite,  silently  figure  among  Violetta's  guests.  In 
the  Banquet  Scene  Mme.  Patti  wears  some  wonderful  sapphires; 
but  in  the  Ball  Scene,  altogether  apart  from  coronet,  necklace,  and 
bracelets,  the  front  of  her  dress  is  a  perfect  blaze  of  gems.  At 
night — although  perhaps  the  precautions  adopted  are  not  quite  so 
simple  as  those  of  the  first  Mr.  Sanger,  who  locked  up  his  cash-box 
in  an  iron  safe  which  was  fixed  in  the  lion's  den — the  Patti  dia- 
monds are  in  perfectly  secure  custody. 

Sir  Augustus  Harris  was  a  proud  man  that  evening.  Out- 
wardly calm  and  self-possessed,  wearing  his  most  genial  smile, 
he  strolled  from  the  stage  to  the  auditorium  and  from  the 
auditorium  to  the  stage  in  a  veritable  seventh  heaven  of  de- 
light. Scarcely  less  happy  was  his  talented  and  faithful  con- 
ductor, Luigi  Mancinelli,  who  secured  a  performance  worthy 
of  the  event.  De  Lucia's  suitability  for  the  part  of  Alfredo 
lay  in  the  possession  of  passion  rather  than  vocal  charm ;  but 
Ancona,  then  at  his  best,  sang  quite  superbly  as  the  elder 
Germont.  Altogether  the  ensemble  was  satisfying,  and  for 
Mme.  Patti  the  night  was  a  triumph  without  flaw. 

Three  days  later  she  sang  at  a  State  Concert  at  Bucking- 
ham Palace,  and  by  request  of  the  Prince  of  Wales  (afterwards 
King  Edward  VII)  joined  the  royal  circle  before  supper  to 
receive  their  compliments  and  congratulations.     On  the  fol- 


330  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

lowing  (Saturday)  night  she  again  appeared  at  Covent  Gar- 
den in  the  "Traviata"  before  a  no  less  brilliant  and  demon- 
strative audience.  The  unequivocal  success  of  the  Pat  1  i 
revival  had  by  this  time  made  an  irresistible  appeal  to  opera- 
goers  of  every  age  and  class,  and  the  demand  for  seats  a1 
the  remaining  representations  of  the  series  greatly  exceeded 
the  capacity  of  the  house. 

Her  next  appearance  was  made  in  "II  Barbiere,"  the  opera 
most  closely  identified  with  her  name  and  fame;  and  her 
Rosina  stood  forth  once  more,  alone  and  unapproachable,  as 
the  ideal  embodiment  of  Rossini's  heroine.  It  retained  in 
fullest  measure  the  qualities  of  vivacity,  piquancy,  grace,  and 
charm  that  had  so  long  rendered  it  an  inexhaustible  source 
of  delight ;  and  while  freshness  and  juvenility  now  constituted 
its  most  striking  feature,  this  was  of  less  importance,  in  reality 
than  its  value  as  a  consummate  example  of  the  art  of  the  bcl 
canto  at  a  time  when  that  art  was  slowly  but  surely  entering 
upon  its  ultimate  period  of  decline.  Mme.  Patti  sang  the 
whole  of  the  well-known  bravura  music  with  extraordinary 
ease  and  finish,  and  in  the  Lesson  Scene  introduced  the  air 
from  "Semiramide,"  "Bel  raggio,"  with  some  new  ornaments 
and  a  thrilling  final  cadenza  that  brought  down  the  house. 
P>cvignani  conducted,  and  the  cast  included  a  French  tenor 
named  Bonnard  (Almaviva),  Ancona  (Figaro),  Pini-Corsi 
(Bartolo),  Arimondi  (Basilio),  and  the  evergreen  Mile. 
Bauermeister  ( Marcellina ) . 

During  the  third  week  of  her  engagement  Mme.  Patti  sang 
twice  in  "Don  Giovanni,"  and  in  the  fourth  wound  up  with 
a  repetition  of  "II  Barbiere,"  making  it  harder  than  ever  to 
decide  in  which  of  these  two  operas  her  genius  manifested  the 
greater  degree  of  fascination.  Had  a  verdict  been  challenged, 
the  jury  would  probably  have  been  found  evenly  divided. 
Her  Rosina  had  shown  her  execution  of  coloratur  passages 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  331 

to  be  still  unsurpassed,  and  indeed  unsurpassable.  Her  Zer- 
lina,  if  finer  now  than  ever,  was  so  only  because  Mozart's 
music  fell  easily  within  the  compass  of  her  medium  and  lower 
head  tones,  the  timbre  of  which  had  grown  more  round  and 
beautiful  with  the  gradual  elimination  of  the  acuter  notes  in 
the  head  register.  Such  a  delineation,  such  singing,  in  this 
particular  masterpiece  afforded  a  new  experience  for  the 
younger  generation  of  opera-lovers — just  beginning,  as  it  then 
was,  to  temper  Wagner  with  Mozart  in  accordance  with  the 
Munich  and  Dresden  custom.  To  her  audience,  therefore,  the 
Zerlina  of  Adelina  Patti  was  alike  a  revelation  and  a  joy. 

The  supporting  company  was  by  no  means  of  remarkable 
merit,  though  on  the  whole  competent.  It  included  one 
famous  artist  in  M.  Victor  Maurel,  whose  Don  Giovanni  was 
still  an  elegant  and  distinguished  cavalier,  if  fading  some- 
what. Of  the  "ladies  in  black"  Miss  Margaret  Macintyre's 
Donna  Elvira  was  the  more  successful.  Mr.  Philip  Brozel 
as  Don  Ottavio,  M.  Castelmary  as  Leporello,  Signor  Pini- 
Corsi  as  Masetto,  and  Mr.  Charles  Manners  as  the  Commen- 
datore  completed  the  cast,  while  Signor  Bevignani  again 
conducted. 

A  final  performance  of  "II  Barbiere"  took  place  on  July  4, 
when  the  audience  comprised,  in  addition  to  many  royalties, 
a  large  sprinkling  of  well-known  Americans,  who  led  the  cor- 
dial parting  demonstration  proffered  to  the  diva  on  the  con- 
clusion of  her  memorable  task.  For  memorable  in  every  im- 
aginable way  had  been  Mme.  Patti 's  return  to  the  London 
operatic  boards.  Both  as  an  artistic  and  a  physical  achieve- 
ment, it  stands  without  parallel.  From  the  impresario's  point 
of  view,  it  was  so  successful  that  Mme.  Patti  promised  him  to 
repeat  her  visit  to  Covent  Garden  in  the  following  season. 
But,  alas,  in  June,  1896,  Augustus  Harris  lay  prematurely 
dead  of  over-work  and  self-neglect !  The  experiment  was  not 
destined  to  be  tried  again. 


332  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Here  it  will  be  convenient  to  give  a  complete  list  of  the 
forty-two  operas  in  which  Mme.  Palti  appeared  during  her 
stage  career.  It  included  several  that  she  never  sang  at 
Covent  Garden ;  and  as  a  monument  of  versatility,  of  compre- 
hensiveness and  catholicity  of  styles,  it  remains  unrivalled : 

Mozart — "Don  Giovanni" 

Rossini— "II  Barbiere  di   Siviglia,"  "Mose  in  Sgitto,"   "La  Gazza 

Ladra,"  "Otello,"  "Semiramide" 
Bellini — "La  Sonnambula,"  "I  Puritani" 
Donizetti — "Lucia  di  Lammermoor,"  "Linda  di  Chamouni,"  "Don 

Pasquale,"  "L'Elisir  d'Amore,"  "La  Figlia  del  Reggimento" 
Verdi— "II  Trovatore,"  "Giovanna  d'Arco,"  "La  Traviata,"  "Luisa 

Miller,"  "Ernani,"  "Rigoletto,"  "Aula" 
Meyerbeer— "Dinorah,"    "Les    Huguenots,"    "L'Etoile    du    Nord," 

"L'Africaine" 
Flotow— "Martha" 

Gounod— "Faust,"  "Mireille,"  "Romeo  et  Juliette" 
Auber — "Les  Diamants  de  la  Couronne,"  "Fra  Diavolo" 
Thomas— "Hamlet" 
Bizet — "Carmen" 
Delibes — "Lakme" 
Gomez — "II  Guarany" 
D'Ivry — "Les  Amants  de  Verone" 
Campana — "Esmeralda" 
Lenepveu — "Velleda" 
Ricci — "Crispino  e  la  Comare" 
Poniatowski — "Gelmina" 
Coiten— "Estella"  ("Les  Bluets") 
Pizzi— "Gabriella" 
Pollonnais — "Dolores" 


CHAPTER  XX 

Patti  and  the  Wordless  or  Mime  Play — Tours  Abroad  and  at  Home 
(1896) — The  Welsh  Charity  Concert  at  Cardiff — Swansea's  Record 
Surpassed — "Land  of  my  Fathers"  in  Welsh — Another  Visit  to  the 
Riviera — French  Poets  and  the  Diva — Sings  in  the  Opera  "Dolores" 
at  Nice — Nicolini's  Declining  Health — His  Death  at  Pau — His  Influ- 
ence on  Patti — Her  Reappearances  at  the  Albert  Hall  and  Crystal 
Palace — She  Introduces  Baron  Rolf  Cederstrom — A  Third  Matri- 
monial Venture — The  Wedding  at  Brecon — A  Final  Appearance  at 
Covent  Garden 

THE  extraordinary  success  that  attended  Mme.  Patti 's 
brief  return  to  the  Covent  Garden  boards  in  1895  gave 
rise  to  quite  a  numerous  batch  of  ingenious  rumors  regarding 
her  future  activities  in  the  operatic  field.  Most  of  these  un- 
founded reports  were  allowed  to  pass  without  contradiction. 
But  one  in  particular  was  circulated  with  so  much  persistence 
that  it  was  thought  advisable  to  meet  it  with  a  positive  denial. 
The  statement  in  question  was  to  the  effect  that  Mme.  Patti 
had  definitely  promised  to  study  the  part  of  Elsa  in  German, 
and  that  she  would  sing  it  in  London  under  Hans  Richter 
during  the  spring  of  1896.  In  authorizing  the  contradiction 
of  this  statement  she  requested  me  to  say  that  "Much  as  she 
loved  the  music  and  the  part  of  Elsa,  she  feared  she  would 
not  now  be  equal  to  the  task  of  undertaking  so  fatiguing  a 
role."1 

Truth  to  tell,  opera  was  now  less  in  her  thoughts  than 
the  mime-play.  Directly  she  arrived  at  Craig-y-Nos  after 
her  exciting  experiences  in  town,  she  began  rehearsing  a  new 
"drama  without  words"  entitled  "Mirka  l'Enchanteresse," 

i  The  Sunday  Times,  September  15,  1895. 

333 


334  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

invented  for  her  by  M.  Georges  Boyer  (then  Secretary  of  the 
Paris  Opera  and  a  writer  on  Le  Figaro),  and  furnished  with 
illustrative  music  by  M.  Andre  Pollonnais.  The  story  em- 
bodied a  Bohemian  love  romance  wherein  Mme.  Patti  had  to 
subjugate  some  savage  Croats  by  the  fascination  of  her  sing- 
ing and  posturing,  somewhat  after  the  fashion  of  Caterina  in 
her  famous  scene  with  the  Kalmucks  in  "L'Etoile  du  Nord." 
Thanks  to  her  skill  and  the  added  charm  of  some  graceful 
music  and  pretty  costumes  and  scenery,  the  picturesque  piece 
made  a  notable  impression  in  the  castle  theatre  upon  a  couple 
of  crowded  audiences  (July  22  and  August  3,  1895),  who 
vastly  applauded  the  energetic  heroine  and  her  co-workers. 

Nor  did  the  career  of  "Mirka"  terminate  here.  In  the  fol- 
lowing January  (1896)  it  was  performed  at  the  Gaiete, 
Paris,  at  a  charity  representation  that  realized  30,000  francs. 
This  was  Mme.  Patti 's  first  appearance  before  the  Parisians 
as  a  "mime."  But,  while  admiring  her  new  talent,  they 
found  chief  delight,  of  course,  in  her  vocal  efforts,  which 
roused  all  the  old  enthusiasm — particularly  when  she  sup- 
plemented Mirka's  music  with  the  Baronne  de  Rothschild's 
familiar  ditty,  "Si  vous  n'avez  rien  a  me  dire."  (She  had 
warbled  it  to  their  parents  thirty  years  before.)  During  this 
visit  the  popular  cantatrice  also  sang  twice  at  the  Opera,  and 
later  on  gave  another  performance  of  "Mirka"  at  Nice.  At 
Monte  Carlo  she  had  the  usual  successes  in  "II  Barbiere"  and 
"La  Traviata."  What  gave  her  most  pleasure  there,  how- 
ever, was  her  hit  in  the  new  "wordless  play." 

These  things  she  readily  did  in  public  abroad ;  but  somehow 
it  seems  never  to  have  occurred  to  her  to  perform  a  mime-play 
in  England,  except  in  her  own  little  theatre.  Probably  noth- 
ing would  have  induced  her  to  enact  one  in  London.  Yet  at 
home  she  never  tired  of  inventing,  rehearsing,  and  acting 
them.  The  day  after  "Mirka"  was  staged  she  wanted  some- 
thing else.     At  my  suggestion,  a  version  of  "East  Lynne" 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  335 

was  prepared,  in  which  she  portrayed  with  astonishing  real- 
ism of  gesture  and  facial  expressions  the  sufferings  of  the  un- 
happy heroine.  Her  make-up  as  the  supposed  widow  in  this 
piece  roused  the  ire  of  Nicolini.  He  considered  it  "very  bad 
luck"  for  her  to  wear  crape,  even  on  the  stage,  during  his 
lifetime,  and  vainly  endeavored  to  dissuade  her  from  doing 
so.  Perhaps  he  felt  a  presentiment.  At  any  rate,  not  long 
afterwards  she  was  actually  wearing  "widow's  weeds"  on  his 
account.1 

By  October  Mme.  Patti  was  once  more  on  her  autumn  con- 
cert tour,  under  the  guidance  of  Percy  Harrison.  She  caught 
a  cold  at  Wolverhampton,  made  it  worse  by  singing  at  Shef- 
field, and  was  unable  to  appear  at  Birmingham,  though  she 
subsequently  made  up  for  the  disappointment  there.  But, 
with  this  exception,  the  tour  went  smoothly  enough,  and  at 
most  of  the  concerts  hundreds  of  applicants  for  admission 
were  turned  away.  She  also  crossed  to  Ireland  and  won 
triumphant  successes  at  the  hands  of  her  cordial  admirers  in 
Dublin  and  Belfast.  On  November  26,  supported  by  Edward 
Lloyd,  Santley,  Mme.  Belle  Cole,  David  Popper,  and  other 
artists,  she  sang  in  London  again  at  the  Albert  Hall  before 
an  enormous  crowd;  her  voice  fresh,  clear,  and  very  nearly 
as  strong  as  ever. 

After  her  return  from  the  Riviera  in  the  spring  of  1896 
a  similar  round  of  engagements  was  fulfilled,  a  short  provin- 
cial tour  winding  up  with  more  pretentious  concerts  in  the 
metropolis  in  May  and  June.  Such,  indeed,  was  now  the 
order  of  events  into  which,  year  after  year,  the  life  of  the 
illustrious  singer  was  gradually   shaping  itself.     What   she 

1  In  describing  this  "East  Lynne'*  production  in  "Thirty  Years  of 
Musical  Life  in  London,"  I  stated  that  it  was  given  before  instead  of 
after  "Mirka."  The  error  was  a  trifling  one,  but  as  both  pieces  were 
mounted  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  during  the  same  summer  (1895)  it  is  as 
well  that  they  should  be  mentioned  here  in  their  proper  order. 


336  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

sang  at  her  concerts  mattered  little,  in  one  sense.  The  public 
cared  not,  so  long  as  she  continued  to  give  thein  the  old  arias 
with  most  of  the  old  bravura,  or  exhibited  the  still  matchless 
legato  in  "Pur  dicesti,"  "Voi  che  sapete,"  and  "Home,  sweet 
home."  It  must  be  conceded,  however,  that  she  rarely  lost  a 
chance  in  these  days  of  enriching  her  programme  with  some 
untried  item.  Her  new  contribution  at  the  Albert  Hall  sum- 
mer concert  in  1896  was  Schubert's  "Ave  Maria";  and  its 
long-drawn  cantilena  was  poured  forth,  as  one  writer  said, 
"with  a  tenderness,  a  fervor,  a  beauty  of  phrasing,  the  secret 
of  which  is  hers  alone." 

One  Patti  "function"  having  now  become  so  much  like  an- 
other, further  detailed  description  of  them  in  these  pages 
would  involve  a  wearisome  repetition  of  things  already  said. 
Xor  would  any  useful  purpose  be  served  by  the  mere  enumera- 
tion of  the  more  or  less  regular  annual  events  that  marked  the 
closing  years  of  the  artist's  public  career.  It  is  certain  that 
the  interest  of  her  audiences  never  waned.  Had  it  done  so, 
there  might  have  been  something  fresh  for  her  critics  to  say. 
As  it  was,  their  sole  ground  for  complaint  was  the  difficulty 
of  turning  new  sentences  in  order  to  impart  variety  to  their 
notices. 

Conspicuous  among  her  prescribed  round  of  engagements 
was  the  one  in  which  she  took  most  pride  and  which  brought 
not  a  penny  to  her  exchequer,  but,  on  the  contrary,  cost  her 
a  good  deal  of  money  and  trouble.  This  was  the  concert  that 
she  gave  every  autumn  in  aid  of  the  local  Welsh  charities. 
I  refer  to  the  subject  again  in  connection  with  the  concert 
of  September,  1896,  to  which  Mme.  Patti  attached  special 
importance,  because  she  gave  it,  not  as  usual  at  Swansea, 
Neath,  or  Brecon,  but  at  the  more  distant  town  of  Cardiff, 
where  it  now  took  place  for  the  first  time.  The  reason  for 
the  change  was  somewhat  peculiar. 


THE  ELIXIR  OF  YOUTH,   1898 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  337 

It  should  have  been  Swansea's  turn.  In  an  unlucky  mo- 
ment, however,  it  occurred  to  the  Hospital  Committee  to 
issue  a  schedule  of  prices  lower  than  that  of  previous  years. 
The  fact  came  to  Mme.  Patti's  knowledge,  and,  her  consent 
not  having  been  previously  obtained,  she  took  it  as  a  personal 
slight,  and  declined  to  give  the  concert  there  at  all.  The 
committee  begged  for  forgiveness,  but  in  vain.  Cardiff  had 
been  communicated  with  in  the  meantime,  and  was  only  too 
willing  to  accept  the  risk  of  charging  the  customary  high 
prices  for  an  afternoon  concert,  provided  the  diva  herself 
was  coming  to  sing.  So,  exit  (temporarily)  Swansea,  enter 
Cardiff! 

Much  to  her  satisfaction  (and,  let  me  add,  Nicolini's,  for 
he  was  chiefly  responsible),  the  change  of  venue  proved  suc- 
cessful beyond  expectation.  I  can  speak  of  it  from  personal 
knowledge,  for  Mme.  Patti  made  a  special  point  of  my  going 
with  her  to  Cardiff.     She  explained : 

' '  I  want  you  to  be  my  spokesman.  Some  one  has  to  make  a 
speech  in  reply  to  the  vote  of  thanks,  and  you  must  do  it. ' ' 

"But  where  is  Spalding?" 

' '  He  is  not  staying  with  us  this  year. ' ' 

' '  Then  why  not  M.  Nicolini  ? ' ' 

"You  are  joking.  You  know  what  his  English  is  like,  and 
he  cannot  make  a  speech,  even  in  French.  Besides,  his  health 
is  not  good  enough  for  him  to  make  the  effort.  No ;  I  shall 
depend  upon  you." 

There  was  no  more  to  be  said.  I  arrived  at  the  castle  a 
day  or  two  before  the  concert,  which  was  fixed  for  September 
16,  and  quickly  discovered  that  unusual  pains  had  been  taken 
to  render  it  attractive.  Besides  the  "Queen  of  Song" — that 
honored  title  which  the  Welsh,  of  all  people,  were  most  care- 
ful never  to  omit — the  list  of  artists  included  Marianne  and 
Clara  Eissler,  Ffrangcon  Davies,  Hirwen  Jones,  Franklin 
Clive,   Bonetti,   and  Tito   Mattei,   with,   of  course,   Wilhelm 


338  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Ganz  as  accompanist.  No  need  to  particularize.  It  was  a 
good  combination  and  resulted  in  a  capital  concert. 

On  the  15th  a  matinee  look  place  in  the  Patti  Theatre,  to 
which  a  large  party  of  friends  were  invited.  They  were 
treated  to  a  surprise;  for,  besides  displaying  her  genius  in 
a  new  wordless  play  called  "Le  Malheur  d'un  Peintre"  and 
singing  Gounod's  "Ave  Maria.-'  the  indefatigable  hostess  pre- 
vailed upon  "Ernesto"  to  appear  with  her  in  the  Chamber 
Scene  from  Act  IV  of  "Romeo  el  Juli<  tte."  Her  singing  that 
day  was  exceptionally  magnificent  ;  but  her  husband  betrayed 
his  growing  physical  weakness  and  barely  managed  to  pull 
through  the  long  duet.  It  was  the  last  time  I  ever  heard  him 
upon  the  stage.  He  had  been  my  first  Faust,  my  first  Romeo, 
my  first  Radames,  my  first  Lohengrin ;  and  this  was  the  end! 

The  receipts  at  the  Cardiff  concert  amounted  to  £800,  which 
was  a  record  for  these  Welsh  charity  undertakings.  It  also 
furnished  some  new  experiences.  Mme.  Patti  told  me  she  had 
never  had  such  a  "right  down  royal'7  reception.  Tears  stood 
in  her  eyes  as  she  waved  her  hand  and  bowed  right  and  left 
in  response  to  the  uproarious  greetings  of  the  Cardiff  folk. 
This  was  even  more  remarkable  than  the  scene  in  the  Park 
Hall  at  the  close  of  the  concert,  though  that  was  unforgettable 
enough. 

Proposing  the  vote  of  thanks,  the  chairman  of  the  commit- 
tee, Dr.  Edwards,  expressed  a  hope  that  "when  the  great 
prima  donna  came  among  them  again  she  would  be  prepared 
to  sing  them  a  song  in  their  native  language.  She  had  sung 
in  every  clime,  and  had  stirred  the  hearts  of  all  grades  of 
people  throughout  the  civilized  world,  but  they  could  assure 
her  that  there  were  no  warmer  breasts  to  express  gratitude 
than  the  Welsh.  When  she  came  to  sing  her  Welsh  song, 
they  would  all  be  there!"  This  utterance  was,  of  course, 
cheered  by  the  audience  with  might  and  main. 

While  the  worthy  doctor  was  speaking,  Mme.   Patti   had 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  339 

been  seated  upon  a  music-stool  at  the  grand  piano.  When  he 
had  finished,  she  bowed  to  every  one  with  her  winning  smile, 
then  motioned  to  me  to  go  to  the  front  of  the  platform.  As 
it  happened,  she  had — by  a  pure  coincidence — supplied  me 
beforehand  with  the  material  for  an  affirmative  reply  to  the 
wish  that  Dr.  Edwards  had  expressed.1  I  was  able  to  an- 
nounce, as  a  wind-up  to  my  speech,  that  she  had  long  made 
up  her  mind  to  learn  a  song  in  Welsh,  and  that,  "with  the 
aid  of  the  two  Welsh  singers  they  had  heard  that  day  [Messrs. 
Hirwin  Jones  and  Ffrangcon  Davies],  she  would  endeavor  to 
accomplish  an  authentic  rendering  of  'Land  of  my  Fathers' 
in  their  native  tongue." 

The  statement  naturally  created  a  furore ;  and,  when  Mme. 
Patti  rose  to  leave,  the  big  assemblage  rose  also,  amid  a  tem- 
pest of  applause  that  was  taken  up  by  the  crowd  outside 
and  practically  never  ceased  until  her  train  steamed  out  of 
the  Cardiff  station.  Nor  did  she  forget  her  promise ;  for  she 
subsequently  paid  the  town  a  second  visit  and  contrived  to 
sing  "Land  of  My  Fathers"  in  Welsh  with  a  highly  credit- 
able accent. 

In  February,  1897,  Mme.  Patti  was  once  more  singing  in 
opera  in  the  Riviera.  Her  rcntree  at  Monte  Carlo  was  note- 
worthy for  the  unique  compliment  paid  her  by  four  of  the 
most  distinguished  French  litterateurs  then  living,  who  be- 
tween them  wrote  in  her  honor  the  following  sonnet : 

Es-tu  le  rossignol,  la  rose,  Pliarmonie, 
Jeune  divinite  du  ciel  italien? 

i  Among  other  things,  I  mentioned  that  this  was  the  eleventh  con- 
cert in  aid  of  Welsh  charities  that  Mme.  Patti  had  given  since  she  came 
to  live  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  in  1879;  that  Swansea  had  had  the  largest 
share,  namely  five,  Neath  two,  Brecon  two,  and  Brecon  also  another  on 
behalf  of  the  local  Eisteddfod;  and  that  Cardiff,  having  responded  to 
the  call  so  bravely,  would  assuredly  enjoy  its  turn  again. 


340  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Es-tu  I'amour,  Pesprit,  le  charme,  le  genie, 
Etoile  aux  eclairs  d-'or  de  l'art  cecilien1? 

(Theophile   Gautier) 

O  Diva  radieuse !     O  musique  infinie! 

Tu  nous  suspens  a  toi  d'un  celeste  lien, 
Tu  portes  dans  ton  ceil  le  pleur  d'lphigenie, 
La  gaiete  de  Ninon  et  l'eclat  de  Tallien. 

(Arsene  Houssaye) 

Chante,  0  ma  Lucia,  chante,  0  mon  Adeline, 
Tressaille  sous  ton  lys  et  sous  ta  mandoline, 
Respire  dans  ta  pourpre  et  dans  ta  lloraison. 

(Theodore  de  Banville) 

O  brune  Adelina,  comme  Venus  la  blonde 
Ue  la  pointe  du  pied  boit  I'ecume  de  l'onde, 
Tu  sembles  une  fleur  qui  boit  une  chanson. 

(Chakles  Coligny) 

On  the  22d  of  the  same  month,  at  Nice,  the  object  of  this 
graceful  tribute  created  a  new  operatic  role  for  the  last  time. 
Unfortunately,  it  was  not  worthy  of  her  still  radiant  gifts. 
The  opera  was  called  "Dolores,"  and  the  character  of  a  Span- 
ish heroine  no  doubt  attracted  her,  despite  the  clumsy  hand- 
ling of  the  story,  which  was  quite  devoid  of  dramatic  fibre. 
Her  chief  reason  for  appearing  in  it,  however,  was  that  it  was 
composed  by  her  friend  Andre  Pollonnais,  who,  as  already 
mentioned,  wrote  the  music  for  the  pantomime  play  "Mirka. " 
Put  he,  too,  was  handicapped  by  the  feeble  libretto,  and  his 
score  extracted  little  praise  from  the  French  critics.  Truth 
to  tell,  Mme.  Patti  should  never  have  accepted  the  work.  In 
these  matters,  however,  her  loyalty  to  her  friends  was  some- 
times stronger  than  her  sense  of  what  was  due  to  her  own 
artistic  dignity.  Still,  it  may  be  noted  that  she  never  pro- 
duced "Dolores"  at  Craig-y-Nos. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  341 

Meantime,  the  state  of  Nicolini's  health  had  begun  to  give 
rise  to  serious  concern.  It  had  grown  worse  instead  of  better 
during  the  sojourn  in  the  South  of  France,  and  on  the  way 
home  to  Wales  a  London  specialist  was  consulted.  In  the 
middle  of  March  Mme.  Patti  wrote  me  (from  the  Hotel  Cecil) 
that  "Ernest  was  far  from  well";  that  they  would  have  to 
make  a  brief  stay  in  town  before  proceeding  to  "beloved 
Craig-y-Nos, "  but  that  she  would  be  unable  to  leave  the  hotel 
to  visit  her  friends.  In  reality  her  husband  was  suffering 
from  such  a  complication  of  kidney,  liver,  and  other  disorders 
that  there  was  little  hope  of  his  recovery. 

He  was  unable  to  accompany  her  to  Brecon  on  May  24, 
when,  with  much  quaint  ceremony,  she  was  made  an  honorary 
burgess  of  the  ancient  "Welsh  borough.1  The  scroll  of  free- 
dom was  handed  to  her  in  a  casket  carved  from  a  piece  of  oak 
taken  from  the  roof  of  the  Brecon  Priory  Church,  a  building 
reported  to  be  a  thousand  years  old.  Upon  the  cover  of  the 
casket  was  the  following  inscription : 

Presented  to  Mme.  Adelina  Juana  Maria  Patti-Nicolini  by  the 
Mayor,  Aldermen,  and  Burgesses  of  the  Borough  of  Brecon,  with 
the  honorary  freedom  of  the  borough,  hi  recognition  and  acknowl- 
edgment of  her  eminent  and  her  munificent  services  to  the  poor  of 
Brecon.     May  24,  1897. 

A  similar  honor  was  conferred  upon  her  in  later  years  by 
the  town  of  Swansea,  and  she  was  doubly  proud  to  receive  this 
because  it  made  her  the  only  lady  in  the  United  Kingdom 
whose  name  stood  upon  the  burgess-roll  of  more  than  one 
borough. 

Domestic  anxiety  did  not  interfere  with  the  popular  sing- 
er's public  engagements,  though  it  is  true  that  in  this  same 
month  she  disappointed  an  Albert  Hall  audience  on  account 
of  an  inflamed  eye,  caused  by  a  piece  of  grit  lodging  in  it  on 

i  See  Appendix  BB. 


342  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

the  railway  journey  from  South  Wales  to  London.  The  eon- 
cert  duly  took  place,  with  Mine  Albani  as  remplaQante;  but 
three  weeks  later  (June  3)  Mme.  Patti  made  amends  by  ap- 
pearing before  another  huge  gathering.  Yet  again  she  sang 
a  month  after  that,  when  it  may  be  mentioned  that,  in  honor 
of  Queen  Victoria's  Diamond  Jubilee,  she  opened  the  concert 
with  a  "new  version"  (sic)  of  the  national  anthem,  supported 
by  a  group  of  eight  vocal  students  from  the  Royal  College  of 
Music.1 

There  was  some  talk  of  abandoning  the  customary  autumn 
concert  tour;  but  after  a  visit  to  Brighton  Nicolini's  health 
slightly  improved,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  tour  should  be 
carried  out.  In  September  the  invalid  went  to  Paris  in  the 
care  of  his  son  Richard,  and  on  the  9th  Mme.  Patti  mentions 
in  a  letter  from  the  Great  Western  Hotel  that  she  had  gone 
to  see  him  off  at  Newhaven  and  what  a  splendid  crossing  he 
had.  After  the  tour  had  concluded,  she  rejoined  him  for  a 
brief  space  in  the  South  of  France,  where  he  was  spending  his 
time  alternately  at  Grasse  and  Cannes;  then  she  returned  and 
sang  at  the  Albert  Hall  on  December  4.-  She  remained  at 
Craig-y-Nos  Castle  until  the  New  Year.  Her  husband's  con- 
dition, however,  grew  steadily  worse,  and,  as  a  last  resource, 
he  went  to  Pau  to  take  the  waters.  She  arrived  there  just  in 
time  to  be  at  his  bedside  when  the  end  came. 

1  The  object  of  the  altered  version  was  not  quite  clear.  That  it  waa 
not  a  vast  improvement  upon  the  original  will  be  gathered  from  the 
following  sample: 

"From  every  hurt  or  harm, 
Dread  famine,  war's  alarm, 

God  save  our  Queen. 
Alay  she  uphold  our  laws, 
And  ever  give  us  cause 
To  sing  with  Lrlad  applause, 
■'  rod    ble  -  our  Queen  !'  " 

2  Her  rendering,  with  lid  ward  Lloyd,  of  the  duet  from  "Don  Pas- 
quale"  was  the  gem  of  this  concert.  It  was  one  of  those  perfect  things 
that  dwell  in  the  memory. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  343 

Ernest  Nicolini  died  at  Pau  on  January  18,  1898/  and  was 
buried  two  days  later,  lime.  Patti  herself  superintending  the 
funeral  arrangements.  She  afterwards  spent  a  few  weeks 
quietly  at  San  Remo,  and  did  not  return  to  her  Welsh  home 
till  the  middle  of  April. 

When  her  second  husband  died  Mine.  Patti  was  within  a  few 
days  of  attaining  her  fifty-fifth  birthday.  She  looked  mar- 
vellously young  for  her  years,  and  the  world  was  still  fain  to 
declare  her  the  best-preserved  woman  as  well  as  the  greatest 
singer  of  her  epoch.  Her  life  with  Nicolini  had,  on  the  whole, 
been  extremely  happy.  Whatever  his  faults  (and  they  were 
neither  few  nor  negligible),  he  knew  how  to  take  care  of  her, 
to  shield  her  from  annoyance,  to  look  after  her  health,  to  pre- 
vent her  from  over-taxing  her  strength,  above  all,  to  ward  off 
monotony  or  ennui.  They  were  genuinely  devoted  to  each 
other,  these  two  aristocrats  of  the  operatic  universe ;  and, 
despite  certain  selfish  idiosyncrasies,  Nicolini  always  knew 
better  than  to  oppose  his  wife's  will  in  matters  that  touched 
her  deeply. 

That  he  in  some  measure  remoulded  her  character  has  al- 
ready been  said.     To  what  extent  his  influence  was  absolutely 

1  "He  had  practically  retired  from  the  stage  about  twelve  years  be- 
fore, though  he  afterwards  sang  in  public  for  a  time  at  Mme.  Patti's 
concerts,  both  in  England  and  America.  The  obituary  notices  omit  to 
mention  the  fact  that  he  first  came  to  London  in  1848,  when  a  boy 
of  fourteen,  and  resided  some  time  with  his  mother  in  Queen  Street, 
Golden  Square.  His  chief  companion  then  was  Wilhelm  Ganz,  who.  by 
the  way,  nearly  forty  years  later  acted  as  best  man  at  his  wedding 
with  the  'Queen  of  Song.'  He  made  his  debut  at  Covent  Garden  as 
Edgardo  in  "Lucia"  in  I860.  .  .  .  By  dint  of  what  was  really  a  tour  de 
force,  he  used  to  sing  the  florid  music  of  Almaviva  in  "II  Barbiere"; 
but  he  always  shone  to  best  advantage  in  robust  parts,  and  of  these  his 
two  finest  were,  probably,  Raoul  and  Radames.  He  was  a  capital  actor 
and  an  admirable  musician." — The  Sunday  Times,  January  23,  1898. 
Nicolini  was  born  at  St.  Malo,  February  23,  1834,  and  was  therefore 
very  nearly  sixty-four  when  he  died. 


344  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

for  the  best  can  hardly  be  stated  with  accuracy.  In  one  or 
two  respects  it  might  assuredly  have  been  more  beneficial,  but 
these  may  be  allowed  to  pass.  He  was  inclined  to  be  stingy 
over  trifles,  albeit  as  a  rule  he  was  neither  ungrateful  nor 
lacking  in  generosity.  He  liked  nothing  better  than  to  be 
surrounded  by  his  own  and  his  wife's  friends;  he  even  shared 
occasionally  her  spirit  of  Bohemianism.  lie  did  not  mind  so 
long  as  his  pleasures  were  not  interfered  with  and  the  un- 
written laws  of  the  castle  remained  unbroken. 

During  the  period  of  mourning,  which  extended  over  a  few 
months,  Mme.  Patti  entertained  no  guests,  save,  perhaps,  an 
intimate  friend  or  two.  When  she  made  her  reappearance  in 
public  at  the  Albert  Hall  on  May  26  (1898)  she  wore  the 
"widow's  wreeds"  to  which  Nicolini  had  objected  so  strongly 
on  the  occasion  of  the  "East  Lynne"  performance;  and  a  very 
charming,  sympathetic  figure  she  made  in  them.  At  a  second 
concert  in  the  same  building  in  July  she  was  no  longer  in 
mourning.  But  the  quiet,  not  to  say  "simple  life"  inaugur- 
ated at  Craig-y-Nos  that  summer  was  destined  to  endure  for 
many  years. 

Between  the  two  concerts  just  recorded,  Mme.  Patti  gave 
elsewhere  another  notable  exhibition  of  sustained  physical 
vigor  and  comparative  freshness  of  vocal  power.  She  had 
not  stood  upon  the  Handel  Orchestra  at  the  Crystal  Palace  for 
eighteen  years,  when  she  appeared  there,  on  June  26,  at  one 
of  the  grand  choral  concerts  that  used  to  fill  in  the  musical 
gap  at  Sydenham  when  the  Handel  Festival  did  not  occur. 
Her  tone  still  rang  wonderfully  clear  and  true  through  the 
vast  centre  Transept.  It  was  observed  that  she  made  less  ef- 
fect in  Handel 's  declamatory  air,  ' '  From  mighty  kings, ' '  than 
in  lighter  pieces  such  as  "Voi  che  sapete"  and  "Pur  dicesti," 
not  to  mention  the  inevitable  "Home,  sweet  home."  But  the 
real  cause  for  wonder  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  contrast  in 
this  huge  place  was  not  more  marked.     She  was  enthusiasti- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  345 

cally  applauded  by  an  audience  that  numbered  nearly  twenty- 
three  thousand  persons.1 

The  autumn  provincial  tour  of  1898  extended  over  many 
populous  towns  and  reaped  the  usual  plentiful  harvest. 
After  its  conclusion  at  Nottingham,  toward  the  end  of  Octo- 
ber, Mme.  Patti  went  back  to  Craig-y-Nos  Castle,  and  thence 
emerged  from  her  peaceful  retirement  only  to  take  part  in  an 
Albert  Hall  concert  on  Monday,  November  14.  That  night, 
however,  will  not  be  readily  forgotten  by  those  of  her  friends 
who  happened  to  be  present. 

The  writer,  for  one,  remembers  it  well — a  raw,  foggy  No- 
vember evening,  with  atmosphere  so  thick  and  yellow  that  one 
could  barely  see  across  the  broad  oval  expanse  of  the  hall. 
Not  that  such  familiarly  unfavorable  conditions  ever  affected 
the  crowd  at  a  Patti  concert.  The  plaudits  and  encores  pur- 
sued their  course  with  habitual  persistence.  The  diva  not 
only  looked  and  sang  her  best,  but  wore  her  brightest  smile — 
a  smile  that  refused  to  suggest  gravity  even  when  she  sang 
her  own  unpretentious  little  ballad,  "On  Parting,"  which, 
indeed,  proved  to  be  less  appropriate  to  the  occasion  than  the 
"Jewel  Song"  and  "Pur  dicesti."  The  extraordinary  verve 
that  she  infused  into  the  air  from  ' '  Faust ' '  was  recalled  after- 
wards. 

It  was  her  invariable  custom  here  to  receive  her  personal 
friends  during  the  interval,  a  special  room  nearly  opposite 
the  artists'  room  being  set  apart  for  the  purpose.  There 
would  they  gather  at  the  end  of  the  first  half  of  the  pro- 
gramme, pressing  and  crowding  in — among  them  generally, 

1  This  concert  furnished  quite  a  field-day  for  the  veterans  of  the  art. 
With  the  exception  of  Mme.  (then  Miss)  Clara  Butt,  no  exception  could 
be  named;  for  the  soloists,  in  addition  to  Mme.  Patti,  comprised  such 
long-established  favorites  as  Edward  Lloyd  and  Santley,  while  August 
Manns  was  the  conductor  and  Wilhelm  Ganz  played  the  piano  accom- 
paniments. 


346  THE   HEKiX  OF  PATTI 

despite  the  watchful  Percy  Harrison,  one  or  two  not  entitled  to 
the  privilege  of  entree — to  salute  the  ''Queen  of  Song"  and 
congratulate  her  upon  triumphs  which,  in  her  estimation  and 
theirs,  never  grew  stale.  And  the  regal  ''little  lady"  wel- 
comed them  as  befitted  their  degree  of  intimacy:  some  with 
her  characteristic  hearty  handshake,  some  with  embraces  and 
resounding  kisses,  but  all  alike  with  grace  and  geniality  and 
the  "right  word." 

On  entering  the  subterranean  reception-room  that  November 
evening,  I  noticed  standing  by  Mme.  Patti's  side  a  tall, 
rather  thin  gentleman  whose  face  was  unknown  to  me.  As  I 
waited  while  others  were  "paying  homage,"  some  one  whis- 
pered in  my  ear : 

"Don't  you  know  wrho  that  is?"  I  shook  my  head.  "He 
is  Baron  Rolf  Cederstrom,  who  was  staying  at  Craig-y-Nos 
last  summer.     She  is  introducing  him  to  everybody." 

Just  then  Mme.  Patti  caught  sight  of  me,  and  I  advanced 
to  shake  hands  with  her.  As  she  turned  to  present  me  to  the 
Baron,  a  certain  possibility  flashed  across  my  mind.  An  in- 
stant later  the  mystery  was  solved.  She  said,  with  the  happy, 
joyous  manner  of  a  girl  of  sixteen : 

"This  is  Baron  Cederstrom,  my  fiance!" 

That  moment  of  intuitive  mental  preparation  enabled  me 
to  suppress  all  semblance  of  surprise.  I  offered  my  congratu- 
lations with  the  utmost  cordiality,  and  begged  to  know  if 
the  happy  day  had  yet  been  fixed.  No,  it  had  not ;  nor  would 
it  be  for  some  little  time.  The  marriage  would  probably  take 
place  in  February.  (A  Iwelvemonth  would  by  then  have 
passed  since  Nicolini's  death.)  The  Baron  looked  exceedingly 
proud,  and  he  smiled  calmly  as  he  glanced  around. 

The  first  public  announcement  of  the  betrothal  appeared  on 
the  following  morning,  not  in  the  London  papers,  but  in  the 
two  leading  provincial  dailies,  the  Manchester  Guardian  and 
the  Scotsman,  for  both  of  which  1  was  then  the  metropolitan 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI         .  347 

musical  correspondent.     The  paragraph  in  the  former  ran  as 
follows : 

The  most  interesting  fact  in  connection  with  the  Patti  concert  at 
the  Albert  Hall  to-night  was  that  during  the  interval  the  prima 
donna  seized  the  opportunity  to  privately  inform  her  friends  of  her 
intention  to  get  married  again.  The  engagement  will  not  be  formally 
announced  for  some  time,  for  scarcely  a  full  year  has  yet  elapsed 
since  the  death  of  M.  Nicolini ;  but  I  am  in  a  position  to  state  that 
the  happy  man  is  Baron  Cederstrom,  a  Swede  of  high  family,  who 
was  a  visitor  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle  during  the  recent  summer  holi- 
days. The  wedding  will,  according  to  present  arrangements,  take 
place  in  February. 

But  the  event  was  not,  after  all,  deferred  until  February. 
It  took  place  on  January  25,  1899,  in  the  Roman  Catholic 
church  at  Brecon,  the  bride  being  given  away  by  Sir  George 
Faudel-Phillips.  A  quaint  feature  was  the  place  chosen  for 
the  wedding  breakfast,  which  was  partaken  of  in  the  train  on 
the  railway  journey  to  London.  Three  days  later  Baron  and 
Baroness  Cederstrom  left  for  the  Riviera  and  Italy,  where 
they  spent  the  remainder  of  the  winter. 

When  Adelina  Patti  married  for  the  third  time  she  was 
within  a  few  days  of  attaining  her  fifty-sixth  birthday.  But 
face  and  figure  alike  belied  her  age.  She  looked  scarcely  older 
than  her  Swedish  spouse,  and  he  was  her  junior  b}r  many  years. 
The  world  regarded  her  new  matrimonial  venture  with  sympa- 
thetic interest.  It  thought  her  wise  to  have  selected  a  hus- 
band qualified  to  take  good  care  of  her  in  her  declining  years, 
during  the  gradual  twilight  of  a  long  career.  Moreover,  it 
was  whispered  that  she  was  very  much  in  love — that  her  heart 
had  been  fairly  "caught  on  the  rebound."  In  her  case  this 
foreshadowed  a  speedy  remoulding  of  her  mode  of  thought, 
of  her  views  concerning  people  and  things,  of  her  feeling  and 


348  THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI 

attitude  in  regard  to  home  life  and  surroundings,  under  the 
influence  of  the  new  companion  whose  temperament  and  ideas 
she  had  brought  into  juxtaposition  with  her  own.  Such 
quickly  proved  to  be  the  fact. 

To  what  extent  the  consequent  changes  at  Craig-y-Nos  were 
due  to  considerations  of  health  it  would  be  difficult  to  say. 
At  first  not  much,  perhaps;  for  it  was  not  until  some  time 
after  the  accomplishment  of  another  five  or  six  years  of  con- 
cert work  that  one  began  to  hear  of  Mme.  Patti's  declining 
strength  and  activity,  or  of  really  serious  attacks  of  indispo- 
sition. Nevertheless,  the  accustomed  round  of  entertainments 
that  ceased  shortly  before  Nieolini's  fatal  illness  was  never 
resumed.  And  so  the  famous  singer's  joie  de  vivre  took  on  a 
different  hue.  Concerts  and  operatic  selections  in  the  ex- 
quisite little  theatre  became  of  comparatively  rare  occurrence. 

The  Baron  and  Baroness  Cederstrom  travelled  a  great  deal. 
They  sought  and  found  the  artistic  pleasures  of  Bayreuth. 
They  went  to  the  Passion  Play  at  Oberammergau.  They  vis- 
ited Switzerland  and  ascended  by  mountain  railway  to  the 
top  of  the  Rigi,  the  Biirgenstock,  and  other  hotel-clad  peaks. 
From  these  places  the  Baroness  would  write  enthusiastic  let- 
ters to  her  friends,  describing  her  new  experiences  in  terms  of 
unbounded  appreciation. 

Another  year  (September,  1900)  she  went  to  Stockholm,  her 
husband's  native  city,  to  visit  his  relations,  who  resided  in 
the  picturesque  outlying  suburb  of  Saltsjobaden.  During  her 
stay  there  she  appeared  at  a  performance  given  in  aid  of  a 
national  charity  at  the  new  opera  house  in  the  Swedish  cap- 
ital. The  superb  auditorium  was  filled  to  repletion  by  a 
distinguished  and  representative  gathering,  including  the 
King  and  Queen  of  Sweden.  At  the  close  of  the  evening  King 
Oscar  received  Mme.  Patti  in  the  foyer,  and  pinned  to  her 
glittering  corsage  the  insignia  of  the  Swedish  order,  Literis  et 
Artibus. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  349 

These  novel  excursions  and  pleasant  trips  to  the  Continent 
were  not  allowed,  of  course,  to  interfere  with  the  regular  rou- 
tine of  Mme.  Patti 's  concert  work  in  England  under  the  di- 
rection of  Percy  Harrison.  She  made  her  first  appearance  at 
the  Albert  Hall  after  her  marriage  on  May  19,  1899;  and, 
as  if  in  response  to  a  welcome  of  unusual  warmth,  gave  an 
astounding  display  of  voice  and  art — both  seemingly  un- 
dimmed  in  lustre  and  charm.  She  subsequently  sang  in  the 
same  hall,  season  after  season,  generally  three  or  four  times  in 
each  year,  ringing  the  changes  upon  the  old  favorite  show- 
pieces which  her  faithful  admirers  never  wearied  of  hearing.1 
But  never  did  the  matchless  tones  again  convey  quite  the  same 
impression  of  miraculous  freshness  as  they  did  in  "Caro 
nome,"  in  "0  luce  di  quest'  anima,"  in  "Batti,  batti,"  in 
"Pur  dicesti,"  on  that  unforgettable  May  afternoon.  In  the 
opinion  of  many,  it  was  the  culminating  moment  of  her  phe- 
nomenal career  as  a  concert  vocalist. 

Her  last  public  appearance  as  an  opera  singer  occurred  in 
the  winter  of  1900.  It  did  not  extend  to  an  entire  opera — no 
more,  indeed,  than  the  Chamber  Scene  from  "Romeo";  nor 
could  it,  for  many  and  obvious  reasons,  challenge  compari- 
son with  the  past  in  the  same  degree  as  the  purely  vocal 
achievement  just  referred  to.  Still,  it  afforded  another  typ- 
ical instance  of  the  success  with  which  Patti  still  defied  the  so- 
called  "ravages  of  time." 

This  incident  happened,  appropriately  enough,  at  Covent 

i  It  may  be  mentioned,  however,  that  at  a  later  concert  in  the  sum- 
mer of  1899  Mme.  Patti  sang  for  the  first  time  before  a  London  audi- 
ence the  exacting  air,  "Casta  diva,"  from  "Norma,"  which  she  used  to 
sing  standing  upon  a  table  when  a  child  of  seven,  as  recorded  in  the 
earlier  pages  of  this  book.  After  the  lapse  of  nearly  half-a-century  she 
gave  it  now  "with  a  wonderful  depth  of  pathos,  rendering  every  phrase 
with  her  own  incomparable  elegance  of  style  and  unaffected  grace  and 
purity  of  expression." 


350  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Garden — the  scene  of  her  London  debut  close  upon  thirty- 
nine  years  before — on  the  evening  of  Thursday,  February  22, 
1900;  the  occasion  being  a  benefit  performance  in  aid  of  the 
Marchioness  of  Lansdowne's  War  Fund  for  Officers'  Wives 
and  Families.  It  was  one  of  the  most  brilliant  affairs  of  the 
kind  ever  held  in  that  historic  building.  The  Prince  and 
Princess  of  Wales  (then  soon  to  be  King  Edward  VII  and 
Queen  Alexandra)  headed  a  very  remarkable  gathering,  and 
the  receipts  amounted  to  the  record  sum  of  £12,000.  Mine. 
Patti  contributed  a  lion's  share  of  the  programme.  In  the 
preliminary  concert  she  gave  two  solos  and  two  encores.  Then 
the  curtain  rose  on  the  "duo  de  l'alouette, "  which  she  sang 
with  Alvarez,  the  famous  French  tenor,  in  the  part  of  Romeo. 
Finally  "God  Save  the  Queen"  was  given,  the  first  verse  sung 
by  Patti,  the  second  by  Edward  Lloyd,  and  the  third  by  the 
entire  ensemble. 

Once  more  (and  for  the  last  time)  let  me  quote  the  feuille- 
ton  of  the  Sunday  Times: 

To  say  that  Mme.  Patti  worked  hard  is  to  give  a  poor  notion  of 
the  extent  to  which  the  great  prima  donna  interested  herself  in  and 
contributed  to  the  success  and  eclat  of  this  noteworthy  event.  She 
came  to  London  expressly  for  it,  and  she  sent  specially  to  Paris  for 
the  three  new  gowns  which  she  wore  in  course  of  the  evening.  She 
sang  encores  after  each  of  her  operatic  airs,  and  lavished  the  full 
measure  of  her  genius  upon  a  delighted  and  astonished  crowd.  I 
say  "astonished"  because  the  word  fitly  expressed  the  feelings  with 
which  old  opera  habitues  gazed  upon  the  still  young-looking  face 
of  the  diva  and  listened  to  the  ever-fresh  tones  of  her  incomparable 
voice  what  time  she  bridged  a  quarter  of  a  century  with  her  girlish 
yet  tragic  embodiment  of  Juliette.  Although  it  had  ended  all  too 
soon,  the  duo  left  behind  the  exquisite  fragrance  of  an  enchantment 
long  past  and  yet  again  renewed.  ...  In  an  artistic  sense,  the  scene 
from  "Romeo"  was  essentially  the  clou  of  the  entertainment. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

Patti's  Later  Contemporaries — Her  Unchallenged  Supremacy — Sembrich 
and  Melba  Compared — Charity  Work  in  Paris  (1901) — Time  and  the 
Diva — Health,  Voice,  and  Art — Last  American  Tour  (1903-04) — A 
New  Manager  and  a  New  Generation — Meeting  the  Baroness  at  Quar- 
antine— She  Lands  and  Is  Interviewed — She  Sings  at  Carnegie  Hall — 
A  Four-Months'  Tour — Good-bye  to  America — Return  to  England — A 
Faithful  Public — President  Loubet  Bestows  the  Legion  of  Honor  in 
Paris — Last  Years  of  Patti's  Career — Preparations  for  Retirement — 
Farewell  at  the  Albert  Hall  (1906) — The  Programme — An  Audience  in 
Tears — Historic  Leave-Taking — A  Famous  Critic's  Eulogium  of  the 
Great  Singer 

THE  birth  of  the  twentieth  century  found  Adelina  Patti 
still  securely  established  upon  the  lofty  pedestal  to  which 
the  will  of  two  continents  had  elevated  her  decades  before. 
Fifty  years  exactly  had  passed  since  the  child  of  seven  had 
sung  to  her  first  audience ;  and  for  forty  years  out  of  the  fifty 
she  had  been  the  foremost  singer  of  her  age.  She  was  still 
the  living  standard  whereby  every  new  prima  donna  had  per- 
force to  be  measured — that  is  to  say,  every  prima  donna  am- 
bitious enough  to  sing  Patti's  roles  upon  the  boards  where 
Patti  herself  had  sung  them. 

For  the  opera-lovers  of  her  day  had  good  memories,  and 
were  perhaps  a  shade  more  loyal  to  their  favorites  than  the 
differently  nurtured  public  of  a  later  era.  Besides,  the  glory 
of  the  great  singer  had  not  yet  departed,  even  if  the  stage 
knew  her  no  more.  Her  voice  and  art  were  still  to  be  heard 
in  the  land,  and  the  impression  made  by  their  beauty  was  yet 
vivid  and  actual. 

And,  for  her  part,  what  experiences,  what  triumphs,  what 
conquests  had  been  hers!     What  changes,  what  developments 

351 


352  THE  REIGN  OF  I'ATTI 

in  musical  life  and  thought,  had  come  within  her  purview! 
Together  with  a  distinct  forward  movement  upon  the  lines  of 
th<'  lyric  drama,  what  steady  deterioration  had  she  witnessed, 
alas!  in  her  own  branch  of  the  singer's  art.1 

Her  retentive  memory  also  enabled  her  to  keep  fresh  in 
mind  all  that  she  cared  to  remember.  With  an  equal  facility 
she  could  dismiss  from  her  recollection  whatever  incident, 
whatever  person  or  object,  she  wished  to  forget.  The  memory 
of  her  early  struggles  and  vicissitudes  always  remained  strong 
and  clear;  and  to  the  congenial  listener  she  would  dwell  upon 
them  with  evident  pleasure.  Her  artistic  life  was  no  more  a 
sealed  book  to  others  than  it  was  to  herself.  She  referred  to 
it,  as  she  had  always  done,  without  reluctance  or  hesitation. 
If  any  difference  might  be  noted,  it  was  in  her  growing  tend- 
ency to  laud  and  admire  certain  "giants  of  the  past"  whom 
she  had  not  always,  as  a  rule,  admitted  to  be  giants.  In  the 
absence  of  successors,  they  now  loomed  upon  the  slowly  ob- 
scuring horizon  as  eminently  gigantic.  For  the  age  of  the 
bel  canto  was  departing;  and,  with  a  lessening  demand  for 
old-fashioned  Italian  opera,  the  call  for  worthy  interpreters — 
even  were  it  possible  to  perpetuate  their  line — had  inevitably 
to  diminish  in  proportionate  measure. 

And  what  of  her  own  fin-de-siecle  contemporaries?  Among 
these  Sembrich  and  Melba  were,  perhaps,  the  only  sopranos 
whom  Patti  considered  capable  of  upholding  the  exalted  tra- 
ditions of  the  fading  school.  There  were  still  coloratur  sing- 
ers, but  very  few  of  them  artists  of  the  first  rank,  and  not  one 
whose  vocal  and  histrionic  resources  would  permit  her  to  cover 
the  same  wide  operatic  field  that  the  diva's  versatile  genius 
had  enabled  her  to  adorn.  Both  Sembrich  and  Melba  were 
endowed  with  lovely  voices,  rare  charm,  and  great  beauty  of 
style;  but  their  limitations  as  prime  donne  stood  out  clearly 
when  they  were  compared  with  the  supreme  artist  who  had 

i  See  Appendix  CC. 


(Above)  CASKET  PRESENTED  WITH  THE  FREEDOM  OP 

BRECON 
(Below)  CASKET  PRESENTED  WITH  THE  FREEDOM  OF 

SWANSEA 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  353 

made  her  European  debut  a  full  generation  before  they  came 
upon  the  scene. 

Both  were  admirable  vocalists.  Sembrich,  an  accomplished 
musician  and  wonderful  Lieder-smger,  never  miscalculated 
her  powers  or  essayed  operatic  parts  for  which  she  was  either 
physically  or  temperamentally  unfitted.  A  clever  actress  and 
an  artist  to  the  finger-tips,  she  could  alwaj^s  satisfy  the  most 
exacting  critic  in  any  role,  serious  or  comic,  that  she  under- 
took. In  this  respect  Melba  was  not  always  so  discriminating. 
She  attempted  parts — Carmen  and  Sieglinde,  for  instance — 
in  which  she  had  not  the  remotest  chance  of  succeeding.  She 
was  not  endowed,  either,  with  comic  talent  (which  Sembrich, 
like  Patti,  possessed  in  a  remarkable  degree)  ;  while  her  dra- 
matic gifts,  if  adequate  for  certain  parts,  never  rose  beyond 
a  certain  restricted  level  of  tragic  intensity. 

On  the  other  hand,  Melba  was  a  born  singer.  Her  tone  was 
exquisitely  sweet  and  silvery,  her  scale  a  miracle  of  smooth- 
ness and  equality,  her  vocalization  delightfully  pure  and  ef- 
fortless. Merely  to  shut  one's  eyes  and  listen  to  her  was  like 
enjoying  the  song  of  a  canary  or  a  thrush.1     She  was  at  her 

1  Writing  of  Melba  on  her  first  appearance  in  America  in  1893, 
which  took  place  five  years  after  her  operatic  debut,  Mr.  Krehbiel  said 
in  his  "Chapters  of  Opera" :  '"Her  voice  was  charmingly  fresh  and  ex- 
quisitely beautiful.  Her  tone-production  was  more  natural,  and  quite  as 
apparently  spontaneous,  as  that  of  the  wonderful  woman  [Patti]  who 
bo  long  upheld  the  standard  of  bet  canto  throughout  the  world." 

The  meaning  of  the  word  "natural,"  as  used  here,  is  not  quite  clear. 
It  would  have  been  impossible  for  any  vocal  production  to  be  "more 
natural"  than  Patti's,  because  it  was  the  one  gift,  of  all  her  gifts,  that 
was  untouched  throughout  her  life  by  either  art  or  "artifice."  The 
peculiarly  dark  timbre  which  was  its  most  individual  characteristic 
was — so  contemporary  evidence  has  told  us — already  hers  in  childhood. 
Her  teacher,  Barili,  had  not  to  impart  either  this  or  any  other  "trick" 
that  could  affect  the  course  of  nature  so  far  as  her  actual  tone-produc- 
tion was  concerned.  On  the  other  hand,  Melba's  "natural"  way  of  sing- 
ing was  such  that  when  she  first  sang  in  public  it  was  objected  that  her 
medium  sutl'eied  from  an  excess  of  voix  blanche.  She  had  to  work  very 
hard  to  correct  this,  and  she  had  about  succeeded  in  doing  so  at  the 


354  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

best  in  her  lighter  characters,  and  in  these,  as  well  as  in  the 
interpretation  of  certain  lyric  roles — or  parts  of  mezzo  carat- 
terc,  as  the  Italians  classify  them — her  unchallenged  position 
at  Covent  Garden  in  the  nineties  practically  corresponded  to 
that  of  Sembrich  at  the  Metropolitan  Opera  House. 

In  the  realm  of  opera,  therefore,  Patti  was  still  without 
either  peer  or  successor,  and,  so  far  as  the  present  chronicler 
can  determine,  she  was  destined  to  remain  so.  With  the  con- 
cert platform  she  had  not  yet  finished ;  but  her  appearances 
were  gradually  to  become  less  frequent.  In  1901  she  was 
heard  at  the  Albert  Hall  only  twice — in  June  and  November 
— and  the  provincial  tours  were  rather  shorter  than  usual. 
She  went  to  Paris  in  April  and  sang  at  a  concert  organized 
by  Le  Petit  Journal  in  aid  of  the  Caisse  des  Secours  Imme- 
diats.  The  Gaiete  Theatre  was  crowded  on  that  occasion  by 
an  aristocratic  audience,  and  ovations,  recalls,  and  flowers 
were  lavished  upon  her  with  the  old  abundance.  Said  the 
Paris  correspondent  of  the  Daily  Telegraph:  "Whether 
Mme.  Patti  is  still  capable  of  supporting  the  weight  of  a  great 
role  upon  the  stage  is  a  question  which  critics  may  discuss; 
but  after  hearing  the  great  cantatrice  sing  to-day,  one  cannot 
but  declare  that  it  is  impossible  to  render  such  selections  with 
greater  art." 

In  1902  it  was  much  the  same  story:  concert  work  in  more 
restricted  measure,  but  still  no  falling  off  in  enthusiasm  on 
the  part  of  a  public  ever  loyal  to  its  lifelong  favorite.  The 
watchful  and  expert  observer  could  alone  perceive  the  signifi- 
cance of  the  modifications  that  were  now  taking  place.  So 
slow,  so  gradual,  were  they  as  to  be  almost  imperceptible. 
And  so  long  as  the  velvety  tones  remained,  so  long  as  the 

time  when  she  made  her  debut  in  New  York.  It  may  be  conceded, 
however,  that  the  darker  timbre  sounded  just  as  ''natural"  to  the  new 
listener  as  the  over-light  timbre  that  had  originally  prevailed. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  355 

delicious  legato  and  the  indescribable  Patti  manner  continued 
in  evidence,  what  did  Londoners  care?  An  extra  breath  here 
and  there ;  a  transposition  of  a  semitone  down  or  maybe  two,1 
fewer  excursions — and  those  very  ''carefully"  managed — 
above  the  top  line  of  the  treble  stave;  some  diminution  of 
resonant  power  or  of  sustained  vigor  in  the  higher  medium 
notes — what  were  these,  after  all,  but  trifles  when  one  could 
still  derive  so  much  pleasure  from  the  superlative  qualities 
that  Patti,  and  Patti  alone,  possessed? 

The  critics,  of  course,  observed  these  things;  but,  showing 
creditable  delicacy  and  consideration,  either  passed  them  by 
or  touched  upon  them  so  lightly  that  their  little  reservations 
almost  escaped  attention.  They  emphasized  only  what  could 
still  be  admired.  Thus  one  journal:  "It  may  not  be  main- 
tained that  Adelina  Patti 's  voice  is  as  brilliant,  as  extensive 
in  compass,  as  full  of  youthful  fire,  as  in  the  old  days  that 
are  gone;  but  it  is  still  happily  a  fact,"  etc.  Again,  later  on: 
"Nothing  is  more  painful  than  to  watch  the  gradual  decay 
of  some  great  leviathan  of  art.  With  Mine.  Patti  the  case 
is  different.  True,  her  high  notes  are  not  what  they  once 
were ;  but  her  singing  is  still  far  and  away  finer  than  that  of 
any  soprano  of  the  same  character  now  before  the  public. 
There  is  a  personal  charm  in  her  voice  which  never  leaves  it, 
even  Avhen  she  is  singing  florid  music."  2 

It  is  doubtful  whether  at  this  epoch  the  illustrious  artist 
was  herself  realizing  the  exact  nature  and  extent  of  the  ef- 
fect that  the  slowest  "wear  and  tear"  is  bound  ultimately 
to  impose  upon  the  most  perfectly  adjusted  human  organiza- 
tion. Her  general  health  had  somewhat  improved,  but  she 
was  still  subject   to   periodical  attacks   of   rheumatism   and 

i  As  a  rule,  this  had  not  been  necessary.  Twenty  years  earlier,  when 
in  New  York,  she  wrote  to  a  friend:  "I  never  transpose  the  'Jewel 
Song'  in  'Faust'  a  key  lower.  I  always  sing  it  in  its  original  key,  and 
sometimes  a  key  higher;  for  it  is  very  low  for  me  as  it  is  written." 

2  The  Daily  News,  1902;   1903. 


356  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

neuralgia — attributed  by  one  of  her  medical  advisers  to  the 
frequently  damp  atmosphere  of  the  Swansea  Valley. 

On  this  account,  perhaps,  there  was  at  one  moment  serious 
talk  of  selling  Craig-y-Nos  Castle,  and  early  in  1901  the 
estate  was  actually  in  the  market.  A  high  price  was  asked, 
however,  and  as  no  attractive  offer  was  forthcoming,  the 
place  was  withdrawn  from  the  agents'  hands.  Truth  to  tell, 
none  but  the  most  vital  considerations  would  have  induced  its 
owner  to  relinquish  her  lovely  home,  and,  after  the  first 
impulse  to  sell  it  had  passed,  the  idea  was  never  broached 
again. 

Early  in  1903  a  suggestion  of  another  kind  penetrated  the 
mountain  fastness  of  the  Baroness  Cederstrom,  and  was  to 
meet  with  a  more  favorable  response.  For  yet  once  again, 
before  the  end  of  her  busy  life,  was  she  tempted  to  cross  the 
Atlantic — to  bid  a  very  last  farewell  ("in  concert,"  nat- 
urally) to  the  land  of  her  childhood. 

The  conception  of  this  supplementary  tournee  (or  "extra 
turn,"  as  one  irreverent  American  writer  called  it)  seems 
to  have  originated  in  the  fertile  brain  of  Marcus  R.  Mayer, 
Mme.  Patti's  trustworthy  manager  on  more  than  one  by- 
gone visit  to  the  United  States.  But  it  was  not  altogether  on 
his  own  account — owing,  it  was  understood,  to  certain  financial 
obstacles — that  the  veteran  manager  "worked  the  oracle"  in 
this  instance.  It  might  have  prospered  better,  perhaps,  had 
the  scheme  and  its  execution  rested  entirely  in  his  hands. 
Under  no  conceivable  circumstances,  however,  could  a  Patti 
tour  in  America,  undertaken  at  this  late  day,  have  been  cal- 
culated to  result  in  one  of  the  brilliant  successes .  associated 
with  the  never-to-be-forgotten  past. 

Nine  years  had  elapsed  since  her  preceding  visit,  which 
Americans  had  been  bidden  to  regard  as  definitely  final.  It 
was  a  long  interval.     A  new  generation  had  sprung  up  that 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  357 

knew  not  Patti,  yet  had  heard  of  her  all  their  lives.  Doubt- 
less they  expected  her  to  return  the  same  unapproachable  diva 
as  of  yore,  with  the  same  glorious,  birdlike  voice  of  wondrous 
power,  with  the  same  youthful  mien — in  fact,  all  that  their 
elders  had  described  to  them  a  thousand  times.  This  was  not 
England,  where  she  had  never  ceased  to  shine  in  the  public 
eye,  where  the  passage  of  time  had  not  been  noted  because 
the  marvel  of  its  defiance  had  endured  under  the  unbroken 
observation  of  the  people.  To  Britons  she  was — indeed,  might 
well  be — the  same  inimitable,  unchangeable  Patti.  In  the 
United  States — above  all,  in  hard,  practical,  critical,  blase 
New  York — nothing  short  of.  a  miracle  could  have  so  bridged 
those  years  of  absence  that  expectation  should  be  fully  real- 
ized and  leave  no  sense  of  disappointment. 

Sixty  concerts  were  to  be  given  within  a  period  of  six 
months,  and  for  each  concert  Mme.  Patti  was  to  be  paid  $5,000, 
besides  an  additional  fifty  per  cent,  of  the  receipts  on  any 
amount  over  $7,500.  Further  allowances  for  travelling  ex- 
penses, hotels,  etc.,  were  stipulated  for,  and  it  was  agreed 
that  a  deposit  of  $40,000  (£8,000)  should  be  paid  into  a  Lon- 
don bank  as  guaranty  by  the  beginning  of  March,  1903.  On 
these  conditions  the  contract  was  signed,  and  Mme.  Patti  duly 
found  herself  engaged  for  one  more  long  American  tour  to  a 
new  manager — to  wit,  Mr.  Robert  Grau,  the  younger  brother 
of  Henry  E.  Abbey's  former  partner,  Maurice  Grau,  who  had 
been  for  some  time  director  of  the  Royal  Opera  at  Covent 
Garden  (after  the  death  of  Harris),  and  impresario  of  the 
Metropolitan  Opera  House,  New  York. 

This  Robert  Grau,  like  Marcus  Mayer,  did  not  labor  in 
his  own  behalf  alone,  but  as  the  head  of  a  syndicate  formed 
for  the  purpose  of  carrying  out  the  Patti  enterprise.  Here- 
tofore he  had  been  known  in  New  York  as  an  agent  connected 
with  the  theatrical  and  "vaudeville"  (or  music-hall)  busi- 
ness.    Of  operatic  artists  and  concert  management  he  had  lit- 


858  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

tie,  if  any,  experience.  However,  with  Marcus  Mayer  as  his 
acting  manager  and  the  further  assistance  of  a  capable  press- 
agent,  he  planned  his  tour  and  fixed  his  dates.  Then  he  "put 
up"  his  deposit,  and  proceeded  to  "trust  to  luck"  and  the 
magic  name  of  Adelina  Patti. 

I  happened  to  he  living  in  New  York  at  the  time.  I  had 
corresponded  only  at  rare  intervals  with  the  Baroness  Ceder- 
strom  since  her  marriage.  She  had,  however,  given  me  some 
charming  letters  of  introduction  when  I  went  to  America  in 
Decemher,  1901,  and  we  were  still  excellent  friends.  The  news 
that  she  was  coming  over  aroused  feelings  of  pleasure  at  the 
thought  of  seeing  and  hearing  her  once  again. 

On  a  hreezy  morning  in  October,  1903,  I  went  with  Robert 
Grau  and  Marcus  Mayer,  on  board  a  revenue  cutter,  to  meet 
the  Baroness  and  her  husband  at  quarantine.  She  received 
us  in  her  state-cabin  with  the  utmost  cordiality.  She  declared 
she  had  enjoyed  the  trip  and  was  feeling  well. 

Our  greetings  over,  one  or  two  press  men  came  to  the  door 
and  desired  to  know  if  they  might  ' '  put  a  few  queries ' ' ;  but 
Mine.  Patti  refused  to  be  interviewed  until  after  she  had  ar- 
rived at  her  hotel.  There,  she  said,  she  intended  to  receive 
all  of  the  journalists  "in  a  bunch"  and  undergo  the  fire  of 
their  collective  interrogatories  at  one  sitting.  She  asked  me 
what  the  papers  were  saying ;  whether  so-and-so  and  so-and-so 

were  still  writing  for  the  New  York  ?     I  told  her  they 

were  gossiping  very  little  about  h^r  visit,  but  that  Mr.  Grau's 
press-agent  had  been  extremely  busy.  "Eh  bien,  nous  ver- 
rons!"  was  her  reply. 

At  the  dock,  where  there  was  a  huge  crowd,  the  people 
welcomed  her  with  a  cheer  as  she  descended  the  gang-plank 
leaning  on  the  arm  of  Marcus  Mayer.  They  seemed,  how- 
ever, well-nigh  as  anxious  to  catch  a  glimpse  of  Baron  Ceder- 
strom,  who  had  not  visited  New  York  before.     It  was  late  in 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  359 

the  afternoon  before  we  reached  the  Savoy  Hotel;  but  the 
Baroness  declined  to  take  any  repose,  preferring  to  "have  it 
out"  with  the  interviewers  forthwith.  She  asked  me  to  re- 
main, and  I  was  an  amused  witness  of  some  pretty  passages- 
at-arms  between  the  diva  and  her  eight  or  ten  questioners. 

She  understood  their  game  of  carte-and-tierce  thoroughly; 
parried  their  delicate  thrusts  with  infinite  tact ;  gave  out 
just  as  much  information  as  she  cared  to,  no  more;  dwelt 
emphatically,  of  course,  upon  her  delight  at  being  in  New 
York  again;  and  reiterated  the  assurance  that  no  previous 
"farewell"  had  been  the  real,  absolute  farewell  that  this  one 
was  to  be.  Next  day's  interviews  with  Mme.  Patti  were  the 
first  that  had  done  any  appreciable  service  to  the  tour. 

It  was  a  concert  at  Carnegie  Hall  on  November  4,  1903, 
that  marked  the  "beginning  of  the  end"  of  Adelina  Patti 's 
long  association  with  the  city  of  New  York.  No  one  present 
on  that  day  had  heard  her  sing  at  Tripler's  Hall  in  1850, 
when  a  wonder-child  of  seven.1  It  was  doubtful,  moreover, 
whether  any  one  was  there  who  had  witnessed  her  debut  in 
opera  at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  1859.  Probably  not  more 
than  a  third  of  the  vast  audience  that  now  thronged  Carnegie 
Hall  had  known  the  joy  of  listening  to  Patti  in  her  prime, 
or  even  when  she  had  sung  in  opera  at  the  Metropolitan 
fourteen  years  before.  To  all  intents  and  purposes,  it  was  a 
new  public — and  essentially  a  critical  one.  A  public  that  still 
loved  its  Sembrich,  but  was  caring  less  and  less  for  her 
school;  that  could  enjoy  brilliant  coloratur  and  elegant 
nuances,  but  raved  far  more  loudly  over  opulence  of  vocal 
tone  and  strenuous  (Wagnerian)  declamation.  To  such  an 
assemblage  the  ordinary  miscellaneous  programme  was  not 
calculated  to  appeal  very  strongly.2 

1  The  lady  referred  to  in  Chapter  III  was  still  living,  but  an  invalid 
and  unable  to  leave  her  room.     She  died  in  1905. 

2  It    consisted    of    the    usual   heterogeneous    selection   of    show-pieces 


360  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Mrae.  Patti  had  a  magnificent  reception.  She  was  very- 
nervous  at  the  outset,  and  unable  to  do  herself  justice.  As  a 
natural  consequence  her  voice  did  not  carry  so  well  as  usual 
in  the  big  hall,  although  its  lovely  quality  was  unchanged, 
particularly  in  the  more  cantabile  phrases.  Later  on  she 
recovered  her  control  and  sang  "Home,  sweet  home"  with  all 
the  wondrous  charm  of  yore. 

The  tour  lasted  about  four  months  and  comprised  forty 
concerts.  It  brought  Mme.  Patti  a  net  profit  of  £50,000 
($250,000)  — under  the  circumstances  a  remarkable  financial 
result.  In  spite  of  the  fatigue  and  risks  of  constant  travel- 
ling, Mme.  Patti  was  only  once  prevented  by  illness  from  ap- 
pearing, namely,  at  Chicago,  where  she  had  an  attack  of  sore 
throat.  In  February  she  paid  her  return  visit  to  New  York, 
and  early  in  March  bade  her  ultimate  adieu  to  that  city.  She 
was  now  heard  to  much  better  advantage.  The  impression 
she  left  behind  was  one  of  astounding  juvenility  and  extraor- 
dinary preservation  of  vocal  power  in  an  artist  who  had  been 
singing  in  public  for  well  over  half-a-century.  On  her  de- 
parture for  Liverpool  many  friends  again  assembled  to  see 
her  off.  She  seemed  in  the  best  of  health  and  spirits,  and  it 
was  plain  that  she  was  glad  to  be  going  home. 

So  far  as  America  was  concerned,  the  reign  of  Patti  was 
over. 

In  England,  too,  the  end  was  drawing  near.  Her  appear- 
ances in  public  after  her  return  grew  few  and  far  between. 
Not  that  the  audiences  failed  her  now  more  than  in  the  past 
or  acclaimed  her  with  an  iota  less  of  the  old  rapture.  She 
was  simply  losing  the  relish  for  work;  the  fatigue  of  railway 

executed  by  artists  of  various  grades  of  talent.  The  performers  en- 
gaged by  Robert  Grau  to  assist  on  this  tour  were  Miss  Kathleen  How- 
ard (contralto),  Mr.  Wilfred  Virgo  (tenor),  Mr.  Claude  Cunningham 
(baritone),  Miss  Vera  Margolies  (piano),  Miss  Rosa  Zamels  (violin), 
Mr.  Anton  Hegner   ('cello),  and  Signor  Romualdo  Sapio   (conductor). 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  361 

travel  was  growing  more  irksome ;  the  duty  of  practising  and 
keeping  in  good  voice  was  becoming  something  of  a  burden — 
that  was  all.  But  it  was  enough.  Moreover,  once  she  realized 
that  there  were  now  defects  beyond  her  control,  that  the  flaws 
in  her  once  peerless  singing  were  such  as  the  people  could 
readily  perceive, — even  though  they  as  readily  overlooked  them 
for  the  sake  of  what  still  remained  of  her  matchless  voice  and 
art, — then  Adelina  Patti  was  not  the  artist  to  run  for  long 
the  risk  of  outstaying  her  welcome. 

Yet,  to  be  exact,  the  gradual  process  of  retirement  took 
two  and  a  half  years  from  June  11,  1904,  the  date  of  Mme. 
Patti 's  first  concert  at  the  Albert  Hall  subsequent  to  her  re- 
turn from  the  United  States.  On  that  occasion  she  was  un- 
fortunately suffering  from  a  severe  attack  of  neuralgia,  and 
was  not  really  fit  to  sing.  Imagine  the  courage  and  determi- 
nation requisite  to  conquer  this  most  trying  kind  of  physical 
agony,  and  withal  to  get  through  seven  pieces  (four  of  them 
encores),  including  the  "Jewel  Song,"  "Batti,  batti,"  "Pur 
dicesti,"  "Angels  ever  bright  and  fair,"  and  "Voi  che  sa- 
pete"!  Such  an  exacting  effort  under  these  conditions  was 
not  without  a  detrimental  effect,  and  it  is  worthy  of  mention 
that  she  did  not  appear  again  in  London  for  a  whole  year. 

Let  it  also  be  noted  that  some  of  the  metropolitan  critics, 
while  apparently  uninformed  about  the  attack  of  neuralgia, 
did  not  carry  their  customary  indulgence  to  the  length  of 
ignoring  the  contrast  between  former  perfection  and  present 
shortcomings.  It  was  done  in  a  polite  and  kindly  fashion ; 
but  it  was  a  novel  experience.  Surprising  to  relate,  she  af- 
forded the  same  critics  much  less  chance  for  following  up 
their  new  line  in  the  summer  of  1905.  She  had  recovered  a 
great  deal  of  her  physical  strength,  and,  being  in  altogether 
better  voice,  instantly  regained  some  of  the  lost  ground. 

The  Morning  Post  welcomed  her  return  and  said:  "The 
art  of  the  bel  canto  has  had  many  glorious  exponents,  but 


.362  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

among  these  Mme.  Patti,  by  universal  consent,  occupies  a 
unique  place,  and  the  wish  thai  she  may  soon  appear  again 
is  one  thai  will  doubtless  be  echoed  far  and  wide."'  In  the 
Standard  one  read:  "With  her  own  special  charm  of  per- 
sonality, her  wonderfully  finished  vocalization,  and  her  viva- 
city, she  drew  from  her  delighted  admirers  the  most  enthusias- 
tic applause.  .  .  .  Save  in  the  upper  register,  her  wonderful 
voice  shows  little  sign  of  the  passage  of  time."  And  this  last 
remark,  even  then,  was  perfectly  true. 

In  April  of  the  same  year  (1905),  shortly  after  singing 
again  at  the  Paris  Gaiete  in  aid  of  the  Caisse  des  Secours 
Immediats,  Baroness  Cederstrom  had  conferred  upon  her  the 
ribbon  of  the  Legion  of  Honor.  The  distinction  was  one  that 
she  well  deserved  at  the  hands  of  the  French  nation,  but 
might  never  have  received  but  for  the  powerful  initiative  of 
M.  Cassigneul,  the  director  of  Le  Petit  Journal  and  founder 
of  the  above-named  charity,  for  which  a  large  sum  of  money 
had  been  collected  through  her  cooperation.  It  was  M.  Del- 
casse  who  submitted  to  President  Loubet  the  decree  nominat- 
ing the  famous  cantatrice  a  "foreign  member  of  the  Legion 
d'Honneur."  In  appending  his  signature  thereto  the  Presi- 
dent uttered  the  following  remark:  "I  do  this  with  as  much 
pleasure  as  I  experienced  long  ago  when  I  had  no  gray  hairs, 
and  when  I  heard  Adelina  Patti  sing  in  'Lucia'  and  'La  Son- 
nambula.'  " 

On  October  23  Baroness  Cederstrom  redeemed  her  promise 
to  give  another  concert  at  Cardiff  in  aid  of  the  Welsh  chari- 
ties. The  net  proceeds  amounted  to  £750.  Three  weeks  later 
she  was  again  appearing  at  the  Albert  Hall  before  the  cus- 
tomary "sea  of  expectant  faces." 

We  come  now  to  1906,  the  year  of  Patti 's  retirement.  It 
is  noteworthy  that  when  she  sang  in  London  in  the  month  of 
June  not  a  word  had  been  written  to  indicate  that  the  mo- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  363 

ment  of  final  parting  was  close  at  hand.  The  notices  of  that 
concert  dealt  no  less  gently  than  of  yore  with  the  public's 
"perennial  favorite";  with  the  "  'Queen  of  Song'  par  excel- 
lence, who  once  more  was  able  to  delight  her  hearers  by  the 
wonderful  fluency  of  her  vocalization  and  to  revive  memories 
of  former  operatic  triumphs. ' ' x 

Not  until  September,  indeed,  did  it  become  known  that  she 
had  definitely  decided  to  retire  into  private  life,  and  that, 
after  a  farewell  concert  at  the  Albert  Hall  in  December,  she 
would  take  leave  of  her  admirers  in  the  provinces  during  the 
autumn  of  1907.  This  announcement  was  fulfilled  to  the 
letter,  although  she  supplemented  the  tour  in  question  by  re- 
appearing at  the  Albert  Hall  in  the  following  November  at 
Mr.  Percy  Harrison's  "benefit"  concert.  Every  celebrated 
popular  singer  is  expected  to  emerge  from  his  or  her  retire- 
ment, and  the  Baroness  Cederstrom  generously  did  so — for 
somebody  or  other's  benefit — on  a  good  many  occasions. 

To  the  use  of  the  word  "farewell"  in  connection  with  this 
concert  some  objection  was  taken — by  the  artist  herself  be- 
cause the  term  was  one  that  had  been  much  abused ;  and  by  her 
English  manager  because  she  had  already  promised  to  sing 
subsequently  at  his  "benefit"  after  her  last  tour  under  his 
direction.  It  is  difficult,  however,  to  see  how  it  could  have 
been  called  anything  but  a  "farewell,"  since  it  was  intended 
to  mark  the  close  (in  London)  of  Mme.  Patti's  professional 
career;  and,  despite  a  letter  from  Mr.  Harrison  on  the  subject, 
the  newspapers  insisted  upon  describing  the  coming  event 
under  the  head-line  in  question.  It  served,  moreover,  to  whet 
public  interest  and  create  a  tremendous  demand  for  seats. 
The  concert  was  duly  announced  to  take  place  at  the  Albert 
Hall  on  Saturday  afternoon,  December  1. 

As  the  date  approached,  the  daily  and  weekly  journals, 
almost  without  exception,  published  biographical  articles  deal- 

i  The  Morning  Post,  June  15,  1906. 


364  THE  RE  I  (IN  OF  PATTI 

ing  with  the  diva's  unique  lifetime  of  fifty-six  years  upon  the 
concert  platform  and  the  operatic  stage.  They  included  some 
rather  remarkable  "copy,''  deserving  of  greater  credit  for 
eulogistic  intention  than  accuracy  of  historical  detail. 

Guesses  as  to  her  income  generally  made  out  that  from 
1861  to  1881  she  had  earned  from  £30,000  to  £35,000  per 
annum ;  which  was  probably  not  very  wide  of  the  mark.  But 
after  that  the  writers  seem  to  have  had  no  sort  of  line  to  go 
upon.  She  never  lived  up  to  her  income,  and  the  interest 
on  her  capital  amply  sufficed  to  meet  her  expenditure.  In  any 
case,  she  was  considered  to  be  the  richest  prima  donna  the 
world  had  known. 

Had  she  been  induced  to  make  gramophone  records  ten 
years  before  she  did,  her  income  from  that  source  would  have 
been  very  large.  But  she  felt  a  curious  aversion  against  the 
new-fangled  toy,  as  she  regarded  it,  and  consistently  refused  to 
follow  the  example  of  Tamagno,  Sembrich,  Melba,  and  Caruso. 
The  leading  gramophone  companies  tried  every  available  de- 
vice, even  following  her  to  her  hotels  when  she  went  abroad ; 
but  she  declined  to  be  caught,  until  at  last  one  day,  in  sheer 
despair,  she  turned  to  her  most  persistent  petitioner  and  said, 
"Well,  if  you  will  go  to  my  solicitor,  Sir  George  Lewis,  and 
arrange  everything  with  him,  I  will  do  whatever  he  agrees 
to." 

The  conditions  imposed  by  Sir  George  were  simple.  "You 
will  have  to  take  your  entire  apparatus  down  to  Craig-y-NOs 
Castle ;  have  it  ready  for  immediate  use ;  and  wait  there  from 
day  to  day  until  the  Baroness  says  she  is  willing  to  sing  for 
you."  It  was  done.  But  many  days  passed  ere  the  fateful 
hour  struck  and  the  Baroness  declared  herself  ready.  Then, 
with  her  accustomed  ardor,  she  threw  herself  heart  and  soul 
into  the  business,  and  did  not  desist  until  she  had  made  eight 
or  ten  excellent  records.  Those  were  the  only  ones  she  ever 
made,  and  the  royalties  on  them  were  regularly  paid — accord- 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  365 

ing  to  agreement — through  Sir  George  Lewis,  whom  the  world 
has  probably  to  thank  for  being  able  still  to  hear  even  so 
much  of  the  voice  that  was  once  Patti  's. 

Happily  her  feeling  towards  the  gramophone  changed  from 
the  moment  when  she  first  heard  her  own  records.  This  w*as 
two  or  three  days  after  she  had  finished  making  them.  The 
Baroness  was  coming  down  to  dejeuner,  and  descending  the 
main  staircase  to  the  hall  (where  the  instrument  had  cun- 
ningly been  placed),  when  the  tones  of  her  own  voice  fell  for 
the  first  time  upon  her  ear.  One  who  was  present  relates  that 
she  stopped,  turned  visibly  pale,  clutched  at  the  banisters,  and 
remained  where  she  was  standing  until  the  piece  was  finished. 
Then  she  ran  quickly  down  the  stairs  to  the  hall,  and  exclaim- 
ing, "Oh,  you  darling!"  threw  her  arms  round  the  horn  of 
the  gramophone.  Her  aversion  had  been  conquered  by  her 
own  voice. 

The  most  interesting  of  the  farewell  articles  was  the  one 
from  the  pen  of  Joseph  Bennett  which  appeared  in  the  columns 
of  the  Daily  Telegraph.1  It  almost  made  amends  for  the  omis- 
sion of  any  biographical  or  anecdotal  reference  to  Patti  in  that 
critic's  "Forty  Years  of  Music" — an  omission  explained  (but 
not  accounted  for)  on  page  123  of  the  book.     He  says  there: 

Shortly  before  this  chapter  was  written  (November,  1906),  Ade- 
lina  Patti — to  call  her  by  her  first  and  best  known  name — retired 
from  public  life  as  a  professional  singer.2  The  withdrawal  may  not 
be  final,  but  it  does  not  affect  my  rule  to  keep  from  this  book  all 
personal  recollections  of  living  people. 

The  rule,  however,  was  evidently  of  the  sort  that  can  as 
easily  be  broken  as  observed — vide  pages  257-8  of  the  same 
book.     One  other  allusion  only  does  Bennett  make  therein  to 

i  See  Appendix  DD. 

2  There  is  a  slight  discrepancy  here.  Mme.  Patti's  retirement  from 
public  life  did  not  actually  take  place  until  the  month  after  that  in 
which  Bennett  wrote  his  chapter. 


366  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Adelina  Patti,  namely,  when  he  quotes  a  letter  (dated  July 
24,  1867)  from  Maurice  Strakosch  inviting  him  to  dinner: 

"You  should  much  oblige  Mile.  Patti  and  myself  by  giving 
us  the  pleasure  of  dining  with  us  Friday  next  at  half-past 
six.     You  will  meet  our  common  friend,  A.  S.  S." 

So  it  was  because  he  met  Arthur  S.  Sullivan,  not  because 
he  dined  with  Patti,  that  Bennett  included  Strakosch's  letter 
in  his  "Forty  Years  of  Music"! 

Well  might  the  writers  who  witnessed  and  recorded  the 
formal  leave-taking  at  the  Albert  Hall,  on  a  cold  December 
afternoon  in  1906,  claim  for  it  the  dignity  of  an  historic 
event.  It  was  in  a  sense  more  historical  than  formal.  It 
marked  the  ending  of  an  unparallelled  career;  yet  so  simple 
was  the  function  that  it  presented  scarcely  any  features  to 
differentiate  it  from  an  ordinary  familiar  Patti  concert.  A 
bigger  crowd,  if  possible;  a  more  tense  emotion  in  the  air;  a 
fuller  measure  of  excitement  and  enthusiasm;  perhaps  a 
larger  display  of  floral  tributes.  Otherwise,  what?  Let  the 
programme  tell  the  tale : 

PART  I 

Great  Organ — Fugue  on  "Bach,"  Op.  60,  No.  1  .  Schumann 

Mr.  H.  L.  Balfour 
Air — "Through  the  Forest"    {Der  Freischiltz)    ....       Weber 

Mr.  Ben  Davies 
Aria — "Voi  che  sapete"  {he  Nozze  di  Figaro)     ....      Mozart 

Mine.  Adelina  Patti 
Solo  Piano — 

Miss  Elsie  Home 

Recit.  and  Aria — "Ombra  mai  fu" Handel 

Mme.  Ada  Crossley 

Solo  Violin — Lento,  Gavotte,  and  Presto Bach 

Sefior  Sarasate 

Song— "La  Serenata" Tosti 

Mme.  Adelina  Patti 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  367 

PART  II 

Great   Organ — "Melody" J.  A.  West 

Mr.  H.  L.  Balfour 

Song — "A  Garden  of  Love" Guy  D'Hardelot 

Mr.  Ben  Davies 

Vocal  Waltz— "II   Baeio" Arditi 

Mme.  Adelina  Patti 
Solo  Piano — 

Miss  Elsie  Home 

Song — "Through  Love  to  Light" Cuthbert  Wynne 

Mme.  Ada  Crossley 

Solo  Violin — "Jota  de  Pablo"  .     a    r.s Sarasate 

(First  performance  in  England) 
Sehor  Sarasate 

Great  Organ — New  March,  "Newquay"   .      .     .      .  H.  C.  Tonking 

Mr.  H.  C.  Tonking 

It  would  be  sheer  insincerity  to  argue  that  this  scheme 
was  worthy  of  an  historic  event.  It  may  or  may  not  have 
been  the  best  that  could  be  compiled  under  the  circumstances. 
Anyhow,  the  farewell  itself,  not  the  music  that  it  brought 
forth,  was  what  made  history  of  that  day's  proceedings.  It 
was  not  what  Patti  sang,  but  the  feeling  that  they  were  lis- 
tening to  her  for  the  last  time,  that  brought  the  lump  to  peo- 
ple's throats  and  the  tears  to  their  eyes  until  they  grew  hys- 
terical and  clapped  and  shouted  till  they  could  clap  and 
shout  no  more.  They  probably  did  not  miss  the  worn-out 
chevaux  de  bataille  of  Rossini,  Donizetti,  or  Verdi.  Enough 
that  Patti  was  bidding  them  good-bye,  that  they  would  know 
no  more  the  spell  of  her  singing  in  "Home,  sweet  home." 
It  was,  after  all,  a  saddening,  nay,  a  painful  reflection  that 
they  might  never  again  feel  the  thrill  of  her  luscious  voix 
d'or. 

There  was  something,  too,  besides  the  voice  and  the  sing- 


:i68  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

ing  that  made  the  vast  assemblage  cling  lovingly  to  those  last 
precious  moments.     There  was  the  remarkable  "personality 

whose  power,  impalpable  and  indefinable,"  one  veteran  critic 
of  this  concert  justly  declared  to  be  "no  less  important  in 
the  public  performer  than  a  highly  finished  technical  and 
artistic  accomplishment.  When  these  arc  combined  in  one 
person,  then  we  recognize  the  true  artist  and  the  historic 
personage.  In  Mme.  Patti  they  are  combined  in  an  almost 
superlative  degree."  ' 
The  writer  went  on  : 

Will  any  deny  her  right  to  be  described  as  historic"?  Certainly 
none  who  have  heard  her,  year  in,  year  out,  for  nearly  two  genera- 
tions, during  which  the  art  that  she  has  so  long  adorned  has  under- 
gone something  like  a  complete  change,  and  with  it  public  opinion 
of  it.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this,  the  diva  lias  gone  on  her  way,  looking 
neither  to  the  right  hand  nor  to  the  left,  untouched  by  the  transi- 
tions of  music  or  musical  life,  singing  largely  the  music  of  a  by- 
gone day,  yet  singing  it  as  she  only  could  sing  it.  And  none,  surely, 
would  have  it  otherwise. 

To  praise  her  singing  is  almost  an  impertinence,  yet  not  a  soul  in 
that  vast  crowd  on  Saturday  but  must  have  asked  himself  where,  as 
song  after  song  was  delivered,  the  equal  of  that  singing,  the  rarest 
beauty  of  phrasing,  the  perfection  of  the  technical  command,  and 
the  grace  and  elegance  of  the  style  were  again  to  be  heard. 

One  little  instance.  Will  any  forget  that  literally  marvellous  trill 
— not  in  the  least  like  that  of  the  proverbial  bird,  hut  a  lovely  hu- 
man thing — which  Mme.  Patti  uttered  at  the  close  of  "Pur  dicesti," 
given  as  an  encore  after  Tosti's  "Serenata'"?  Whether  as  the  re- 
sult of  the  Wagnerisation  of  the  singing  art,  and  the  advent  of  the 
modern  declamatory  style,  need  not  be  argued;  certain  it  is  that  to 
Mme.  Patti  one  had  to  go — and,  alas,  can  -?o  no  longer — to  find  its 
possibility. 

i  The  Daily  Telegraph,  December  3,  1906.  This  notice  was  not  signed, 
but  beyond  a  doubt  it  was  from  the  pen  of  Joseph  Bennett. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  369 

And  so  the  inimitable  maestria  of  the  bygone  vocal  epoch 
asserted  itself  to  the  very  end.  Never  mind  the  rest.  It  is 
good  to  have  it  on  record  that  whatever  the  great  songstress 
did  on  that  day  of  farewell — however  simple  and  unpreten- 
tious its  nature — was  done  in  her  own  unapproachable  man- 
ner. The  setting  sun  touched  the  horizon,  not  in  midsummer 
glory,  but  in  the  calm,  clear  effulgence  of  a  soft,  gentle,  wintry 
sky.  There  were  no  more  feux  d'artifice  to  trick  the  ear  or 
dazzle  the  spectator.  Opera  and  its  fioriture  were  done  with. 
With  such  straightforward  melodies  as  "Robin  Adair," 
"Comin'  thro'  the  rye,"  and  "Home,  sweet  home,"  added 
for  encores,  the  final  return  to  the  simplicity  of  the  early 
ballad  days  was  neither  inappropriate  nor  unjustified. 

But,  as  another  critic  observed,  "If  music-lovers  will  al- 
ways cherish  those  last  sweet  notes,  Patti  will  remember  with 
still  greater  emotion  the  affectionate  cheers,  the  demonstra- 
tions of  loving  regard  which  marked  her  farewell."  Never 
before  or  since  has  such  a  testimony  of  personal  adoration 
of  a  public  artist  been  witnessed  within  the  spacious  amphi- 
theatre of  the  Albert  Hall.  A  veritable  cascade  of  flowers 
began  pouring  upon  the  platform  after  the  first  song,  and 
by  the  end  of  the  afternoon  it  had  filled  the  entire  available 
space,  so  that  there  was  only  just  room  for  Mine.  Patti  and 
Mr.  Ganz  at  the  grand  piano.  Among  these  floral  tributes 
was  a  huge  seven-pointed  star  nearly  eight  feet  in  height, 
made  of  yellow  chrysanthemums,  and  lighted  at  each  point 
with  an  electric  lamp.  It  symbolized  the  fact  that  the  great- 
est star  of  her  time  remained  shining  and  active  to  the  end. 

Such  were  the  ultimate  material  tokens  of  the  bond  that 
had  united  the  "Queen  of  Song"  and  her  British  subjects 
during  the  lengthy  span  of  five-and-forty  years.  The  pathos 
of  the  ultimate  adieu  proved  trying  for  the  singer  and  for 
many  hundreds  among  her  audience  of  nine  thousand.  They 
were  palpably  affected,   and   the   handkerchiefs  that   waved 


370  THE  FxEIGN  OF  PATTI 

"good-bye"  served  also  to  wipe  away  the  ready  tears.  Then 
the  people  slowly  departed;  and,  to  quote  again:  'As  we 
filed  out  into  the  cold  evening  air  a  voice  in  the  multitude 
was  heard  to  murmur : 

"  'God  sent  His  singers  upon  earth 
With  songs  of  sadness  and  of  mirth, 
That  they  may  touch  the  hearts  of  men—' 

Surely  this  was  one  of  them." 


CHAPTER  XXII 

An  Epilogue  of  Thirteen  Years — Period  of  Tranquillity  and  Repose — 
New  Scenes  Visited — The  Bayreuth  Festival — Patti  and  Wagner — 
Her  Retentive  Memory — First  Meeting  with  the  Prince  of  Wales  Re- 
called— A  Last  "Barbiere"  in  Private — Reappearance  at  Benefit  Con- 
certs— Her  Welsh  Charities — Failing  Health — The  Passing  Away  of 
Patti — A  Final  Appreciation 

THE  curtain  had  been  rung  down  upon  the  closing  public 
episode  of  Patti 's  romantic  reign,  so  far  as  it  was  to 
be  enacted  within  the  gaze  or  ken  of  a  still  curious  and  inter- 
ested public.  But  nearly  thirteen  years  were  yet  to  elapse 
before  the  termination  of  that  tranquil  epilogue  which  sub- 
sequently ran  its  uneventful  course  "behind  the  scenes." 
The  end  came  very  rapidly  and  peacefully,  after  a  brief  ill- 
ness, on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  September  27,  1919,  at 
Craig-y-Nos  Castle. 

To  attempt  an  account  of  these  concluding  years  would  be 
to  intrude  upon  the  privacy  of  a  retirement  that  was  meant, 
for  excellent  reasons,  to  be  real  in  every  sense.  The  greater 
part  of  the  time  was  spent  in  Wales;  but  rarely  if  ever  was 
the  castle  the  scene  of  festivities  on  the  old-fashioned  scale. 
The  Baron  and  Baroness  Rolf  Cederstrom  thoroughly  enjoyed 
the  quietude  of  the  life  at  Craig-y-Nos,  and  preferred  its  bu- 
colic pleasures  to  the  excitement  of  entertaining  or  even  to 
the  joys  of  the  little  theatre. 

In  the  summer  they  generally  went  abroad,  and  made  a 
point  of  never  missing  a  Bayreuth  Festival.  The  music  of 
Wagner  possessed  a  fascination  for  the  Baroness  that  seemed 
to  grow  with  the  fulfilment  of  her  longing  to  listen  to  it. 
The  Baron  and  Baroness  paid  a  visit  to  Wahnfried  during 

371 


372  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

one  of  these  pilgrimages  to  the  "Wagnerian  Mecca,  and  were 
received  with  "special  honors." 

In  any  case,  no  amount  of  gossip  could  attenuate  by  the 
smallest  degree  the  great  singer's  admiration  for  the  later 
works  of  Wagner.  In  a  letter  to  the  author,  dated  September 
10,  1892,  she  says: 

"How  I  enjoyed  'Parsifal!'  How  gloriously  they  give  it 
at  Bayreuth;  in  fact,  all  the  performances  (including  the 
'Ring')  were  admirable!" 

Again  in  another  letter  she  writes : 

"I  must  tell  you  how  immensely  impressed  I  was  by  the 
Bayreuth  performances.  I  could  never  have  imagined  any- 
thing so  perfect  as  the  mise  en  scene,  and  I  thought  the  'Ring' 
simply  divine.  There  are  no  words  to  express  it ;  it  is  all  so 
wonderful  and  beautiful." 

Once,  after  one  of  these  Bayreuth  visits,  the  Baron  and 
Baroness  were  on  their  way  to  the  South  of  Italy,  when  the 
train  stopped  for  a  few  minutes  at  Orvieto,  a  station  between 
Rome  and  Naples.  On  the  platform  the  Baron  met  Dr.  Hans 
Richter,  who  was  delighted  to  hear  that  they  had  been  to  Bay- 
reuth. "But  you  know,"  exclaimed  the  Baron,  "my  wife  is 
extremely  fond  of  Wagner."  Whereupon  the  famous  con- 
ductor observed,  in  his  usual  bluff  manner,  "If  she  did  not 
love  him  she  would  not  be  the  great  artist  that  she  is!" 

Her  memory  was  singularly  clear  and  accurate  concerning 
those  incidents  of  her  life  that  had  really  impressed  her.  It 
seldom  played  her  false,  and  it  remained  retentive  to  the  last. 
She  would  smile  at  some  of  the  anecdotes  told  about  her  by 
busy  and  irrepressible  newspaper  men  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic,  but  did  not  care  sufficiently  to  take  the  necessary 
steps  to  correct  or  contradict  what  was  untrue.  "Let  them 
write  what  they  please,"  she  would  say.  "It  cannot  hurt 
me,  and  if  it  is  too  stupid  the  public  will  not  believe  it." 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  373 

As  has  been  remarked  already,  she  was  not  particularly 
fond  of  becoming  reminiscent,  but  when  the  humor  seized 
her  it  was  of  the  early  days  in  America  that  she  liked  best 
to  speak.  She  never  forgot,  for  instance,  the  occasion  when 
she  first  sang  "Casta  diva"  to  her  family,  standing  upon  a 
table;  or  being  taken  to  hear  Jenny  Lind;  or  the  excitement 
of  her  debut  as  a  child  of  seven  at  Tripler's  Hall,  New  York; 
or  her  first  appearance  in  opera  ten  years  later  at  the  Acad- 
emy of  Music ;  or  being  introduced  to  the  Prince  of  Wales  at 
Philadelphia  shortly  after  the  notable  event  just  mentioned 
(in  1860),  when  his  Royal  Highness  was  paying  his  first  visit 
to  the  United  States. 

During  a  visit  to  Paris,  in  May,  1907,  the  Baroness  Ceder- 
strom  afforded  welcome  proof  that,  notwithstanding  her  re- 
tirement, she  still  possessed  a  remarkable  reserve  of  both 
physical  energy  and  vocal  resource.  This  she  did  by  appear- 
ing at  a  private  performance  of  "II  Barbiere,"  given  in  the 
small  theatre  attached  to  M.  Jean  de  Reszke's  house  in  the 
Rue  de  la  Faisanderie.  It  was  a  wonderfully  interesting 
evening;  for  the  group  of  artists,  apart  from  the  diva  (we 
may  still  call  her  by  her  old  title)  in  her  favorite  part  of 
Rosina,  included  Edouard  de  Reszke  as  Don  Basilio,  Signor 
Anselmi  as  Almaviva,  Signor  Ancona  as  Figaro,  and  Signor 
Pini-Corsi  as  Don  Bartolo.  She  was  now  in  her  sixty-fifth 
year,  and  in  excellent  voice ;  she  sang  with  a  vigor  and  beauty 
of  tone  that  her  old  friend  Jean  described  as  "simply  miracu- 
lous." This  was  the  last  time  that  Adelina  Patti  appeared 
on  the  stage  in  a  complete  representation  of  an  opera. 

In  England,  in  November,  1907,  barely  a  year  after  her 
"farewell,"  she  kept  her  promise  and  sang  before  an  enormous 
audience  at  the  Albert  Hall  for  the  benefit  of  her  former 
manager, — or  impresario,  as  he  loved  to  dub  himself. — Percy 
Harrison.     It  may  go  without  saying  that  old  pieces  were 


374  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

drawn  upon  and  familiar  scenes  reenacted  with  the  wonted 
ardor — "only  more  so."  For  the  art  of  the  singer  had  un- 
dergone no  change,  and  the  freshness  of  the  well-remembered 
voice  seemed  more  than  ever  unaccountable.  Another  phe- 
nomenal veteran,  Sir  Charles  Santley,  then  seventy-three  years 
of  age,  appeared  at  the  concert,  and  gave  a  similar  wonderful 
exhibition  of  powers  still  unimpaired ;  Mme.  Ada  Crossley 
and  Mr.  Ben  Davies  completing  a  memorable  vocal  quartet. 

Reference  has  been  made  to  Mr.  Percy  Harrison's  long 
association  with  Mme.  Patti.  In  December,  1914,  some  three 
years  before  he  died,  he  was  asked  by  the  author  to  state 
exactly  how  long  this  had  lasted.  His  reply  (dated  from 
Birmingham)  expressed  regret  that  he  could  not  at  that  mo- 
ment obtain  access  to  old  papers  and  could  only  speak  from 
memory.     He  went  on  to  say: 

"I  commenced  my  Subscription  Concerts  here  in  Birming- 
ham in  1870,  and  I  see  that  Mme.  Patti  sang  for  me  on  Sep- 
tember 25,  1874,  that  being,  I  believe,  the  first  occasion  when 
she  appeared  at  my  usual  Subscription  Concerts.  But  I 
have  some  idea  that  she  sang  for  my  late  uncle  before  then — 
whether  once  only  or  oftener  I  cannot  remember.  Subse- 
quently to  1874  I  again  engaged  the  diva,  intermittently  at 
first,  but  later  on  pretty  nearly  every  year,  until  her  retire- 
ment from  her  professional  career  in  1906." 

The  enthusiasm  witnessed  at  the  Harrison  benefit  was  re- 
newed a  year  later,  when  the  Baroness  Cederstrom  yielded  to 
the  persuasion  of  Father  Bernard  Vaughan,  and  took  part  in 
a  concert  given  at  the  Albert  Hall  (November  4,  1908)  to  aid 
a  scheme  for  the  betterment  of  poor  children  in  the  East  End 
of  London.  She  had  already  given  practical  support  to  Fa- 
ther Vaughan  in  obtaining  funds  for  the  erection  of  a  club- 
house for  men  and  boys  in  the  Commercial  Road  parish  of 
St.  Mary  and  St.  Michael — a  successful  institution  known  as 


THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI  375 

"Our  Lady's  Home."  Thanks  to  her  present  cooperation, 
the  charitable  purpose  in  view  was  fully  achieved.  Moreover, 
her  personal  share  in  the  programme — listened  to  and  cheered 
by  some  nine  thousand  persons — was  by  no  means  a  light  one, 
seeing  that  it  comprised  ' '  Angels  ever  bright  and  fair, "  ' '  Pur 
dicesti,"  "Voi  che  sapete,"  Gounod's  "Ave  Maria,"  Tosti's 
"Serenata,"  and  the  inevitable  "Home,  sweet  home." 

Soon  after  this  she  was  again  singing  at  the  same  place  for 
the  "farewell"  of  her  former  colleague,  Mme.  Albani ;  and 
yet  again,  at  a  concert  given  for  the  benefit  of  her  old  friend 
and  faithful  accompanist  Wilhelm  Ganz,  who  had  been  dis- 
abled in  1911  by  an  accident.  Then,  in  her  seventy-second 
year,  she  sang  at  the  Albert  Hall  in  aid  of  the  Red  Cross 
War  Fund,  on  October  20,  1914,  that  being  her  last  appear- 
ance in  public.  Altogether  she  gave  her  services  for  charitable 
and  philanthropic  purposes  with  comparative  frequency  dur- 
ing the  last  twenty  years  of  her  life — far  more  frequently, 
indeed,  than  at  any  other  period.  She  was  now  no  longer 
under  the  control  of  an  impresario  who  took  the  narrow  view 
that  she  might  cheapen  her  value  as  a  public  artist  by  singing 
for  nothing ! 

Her  gifts  to  the  charities  of  South  Wales  and  the  proceeds 
of  the  annual  concerts  that  she  gave  on  their  behalf  amounted 
to  many  thousands  of  pounds.  She  loved  the  old  towns  in 
the  neighborhood  of  her  home,  particularly  Brecon,  which  was 
the  nearest,  and  where  she  had  created  a  sensation  by  unex- 
pectedly singing  at  the  National  Eisteddfod  of  1889.1  To  the 
villagers  for  miles  around  she  was  a  veritable  Lady  Bountiful. 
Indeed,  as  one  of  the  local  papers  declared  in  its  memoir  of 

1  She  led  an  assemblage  of  fifteen  thousand  persons  in  the  singing  of 
their  national  anthem,  and  "in  the  refrain  the  fifteen  thousand  voices 
sang  as  one,"  with  an  effect  said  to  have  been  intensely  thrilling  and 
without  parallel  at  these  gatherings. 


376     .  THE  REIGN  OF  PATT1 

her:  "Her  benevolence  was  of  the  most  profuse  character, 
and  it  is  no  exaggeration  to  say  that  never  was  a  woman  more 
beloved  by  the  simple  villagers  of  the  Swansea  Valley  than 
was  Mme.  Patti." 

The  sufferings  and  horrors  of  the  Great  War  cast  a  deep 
shadow  over  the  closing  years  of  this  sensitive  woman's  exist- 
ence. She  missed  her  journeys  on  the  Continent,  her  trips 
to  Switzerland  and  Bayreuth,  the  changes  of  scene  to  which 
she  had  grown  accustomed  since  1900.  During  the  winter 
that  followed  the  signing  of  the  armistice  her  health  began 
seriously  to  fail.  Early  in  1919  a  medical  consultation  was 
held,  and  the  doctors  detected  unmistakable  signs  of  growing 
heart-weakness.  She  was  taken  to  the  seaside  and  spent  her 
last — her  seventy-sixth — birthday  at  Brighton.  But,  in  spite 
of  the  most  watchful  care  on  the  part  of  her  husband  and  those 
around  her,  she  gradually  lost  strength,  and  by  the  middle  of 
September  it  became  evident  that  the  end  was  not  far  off. 
She  lingered,  free  from  all  pain  and  partly  unconscious,  until 
the  morning  of  the  27th,  then  passed  quietly  away  with  her 
hand  clasped  in  her  husband's.  Her  local  medical  attendant, 
Dr.  Watson  of  Abercrave,  was  also  present. 

After  the  body  had  been  embalmed,  it  lay  for  a  while  in 
the  chapel  erected  a  few  years  previously  at  Craig-y-Xos 
Castle.  Thence  it  was  removed  on  October  24  to  London, 
and  placed  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Chapel  of  St.  Mary's  Ceme- 
tery, Kensal  Green,  where  a  short  service  was  held  on  the 
following  morning.  The  coffin  was  afterward  placed  in  one 
of  the  catacombs  in  the  crypt  of  the  chapel,  to  await  removal 
to  the  great  cemetery  of  Pere  Lachaise,  in  Paris,  where  the 
Baroness  Cederstrom  had  expressed  a  wish  to  be  buried,  not 
far  from  the  graves  of  her  father  and  her  sister  Amalia. 
For  this  purpose  the  Baron  ordered  to  be  erected  a  tomb 
worthy  alike  in  its  dignity  and  prominence  to  be  the  las! 
rest  ing-place  of  the  illustrious  singer. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  377 

It  will  be  convenient  to  enumerate  here  the  principal  decora- 
tions that  were  conferred  upon  her.     They  were : 

The  Legion  of  Honor 

Les  Palmes  de  France 

The  Russian  Order  of  Merit  (in  brilliants) 

The  Medaille  de  la  Ville  de  Bruxelles 

The  Swedish  Order,  Literis  et  Artibus  (in  brilliants) 

The  Gold  Medal  of  the  Philharmonic  Society 

She  was  also  an  honorary  member  of  innumerable  musical 
societies  and  academies  of  distinction  in  various  parts  of  the 
world. 

The  life-work  of  Adelina  Patti  was  spread  over  the  best 
part  of  the  Victorian  age.  It  stirred  the  hearts  of  three 
generations  of  music-lovers.  Her  active  career  was  carried 
on  during  the  most  remarkable  period  of  change  and  develop- 
ment that  musical  art  has  ever  passed  through — a  change 
gradual  but  unceasing;  a  development  slow  but  sure.  With 
the  turn  of  the  century  nothing  in  the  vocal  world  had  re- 
mained unaltered,  and  no  one  had  stood  unmoved  through  it 
all  save  this  great  singer,  who  resembled  some  lofty  rock 
reared  in  the  midst  of  a  broad  river  and  which  neither  stream 
nor  rapid  could  budge. 

Betwixt  her  debut  at  Covent  Garden  and  her  exit  from  this 
earthly  stage  there  stretched  a  span  of  hard  on  sixty  years. 
Reckoning  from  her  first  appearance  in  opera  in  New  York, 
it  was  exactly  that.  She  had  blossomed — the  rarest  flower 
her  art  ever  yielded — before  the  American  Civil  War  began. 
She  lived  long  enough  to  witness  the  end  of  the  biggest  war  in 
history.  Truly,  there  were  many  signs  that  the  times  had 
changed.  We  will  note  only  one.  The  criticisms  on  her  early 
appearances  in  England  in  1861  had  filled  columns  of  the 
leading  papers.     The  obituary  notices  of  1919,  which  might 


378  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

have  been  even  more  interesting,  because  there  was  so  much 
to  say  about  the  great  career  that  had  intervened,  were  chiefly 
remarkable  for  their  brevity  and  restraint.  It  is  fair  to  re- 
member that  her  death  occurred  unexpectedly,  and  at  the  out- 
set of  a  gigantic  railway  strike  which  excluded  almost  every 
other  topic  from  the  pages  of  the  newspapers.  Nevertheless, 
one  would  like  to  know  what  the  great  editors  of  a  bygone 
da}'  would  have  said — and  done. 

It  would  not  be  correct  to  assert  that  with  Patti  disap- 
peared the  final  link  that  bound  the  vocal  past  with  the  vocal 
present.  Unlike  Jenny  Lind  and  Grisi,  whom  she  followed, 
she  has  not  had  a  successor.  She  was  the  last  of  the  race  of 
truly  great  women  singers;  she  was  the  ring,  the  jewel — call 
it  what  you  will — forming  the  end  of  a  chain  that  has  no  con- 
tinuance. There  might  be  other  prime  donne  assolute,  other 
mistresses  of  florid  or  coloratura  singing,  but  none  who  could 
carry  on  the  great  traditions  that  she  so  long  maintained 
and  kept  alive. 

This  splendid  succession  of  singers  which  she  ended  had 
flourished  for  little  more  than  a  century,  all  told;  and  she 
formed  its  most  finished,  its  most  perfect  product.  None  of 
her  contemporaries  could  compare  with  her  in  versatility, 
wealth  of  inspiration,  or  personal  charm,  much  less  in  beauty 
of  voice  and  supreme  mastery  of  all  the  arts  of  vocalization. 

She  was  the  last  perfect  exemplar  of  the  Rossini  school — 
a  school  that  had  very  nearly,  perhaps  already — had  its  day ; 
whose  sole  claim  to  a  renewed  raison  d'etre  would  be  the  up- 
rising of  another  genius  with  the  transcendent  gifts  of  an 
Adelina  Patti  to  infuse  new  life  into  its  dry  bones.  But  that 
has  not  yet  happened ;  probably  never  will  happen. 

It  was  not  the  Rossini  school  only,  however,  that  derived 
fresh  vitality  from  her.  She  was  able — thanks  to  her  mar- 
vellous faculty  for  imbuing  the  most  hackneyed  roles  with  her 
own  rare  individuality,  her  own  rich  spontaneity  of  feeling — 


THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI  379 

to  enhance  the  popularity  of  Bellini,  Donizetti,  and  even  Verdi. 
Not  only  did  she  sing  their  operas  better  than  any  one  else, 
and  reveal  in  them  beauties  that  others  let  pass  unnoticed, 
but  her  fascinating  personality  and  persuasive  charm  im- 
parted to  their  conventional  heroines  a  new  element  of  romance 
that  proved  as  irresistible  as  the  haunting  loveliness  of  her 
voice  and  the  brilliance  of  her  singing. 

The  exquisite  purity  of  her  style  brought  an  added  grace 
to  the  simple  tunes  of  Mozart,  a  more  delicate  polish  to  the 
suave  and  rapturous  melodies  of  Gounod,  an  almost  classical 
dignity  to  the  tragic  periods  and  pastoral  refrains  of  Meyer- 
beer. In  a  word,  she  touched  no  figure  in  the  operatic  gal- 
lery that  she  did  not  adorn.  No  wonder  Verdi,  when  asked 
to  name  his  three  favorite  prime  donne,  replied:  "First, 
Adelina ;  second,  Adeliua ;  third,  Adelina ! "  In  his  estima- 
tion, with  her  Leonora,  her  Violetta,  and  her  A'ida  she  liter- 
ally "filled  the  bill." 

It  was  never  said  of  her  that  she  was  colorless  or  uninter- 
esting; not  even  when  she  essayed  the  one  or  two  parts 
(Carmen,  for  instance)  that  did  not  really  suit  her.  There 
was  a  quality,  a  distinction  about  whatever  she  did  that  al- 
ways raised  her  above  the  level  of  her  colleagues,  no  matter 
how  distinguished;  that  secured  for  her  the  centre  of  the 
stage,  the  concentrated  and  virtually  exclusive  attention  of 
her  audience.  Apart  from  the  fact  that  she  was  the  "diva," 
the  incomparable  Patti  whom  every  one  went  to  see  and  hear, 
she  possessed  a  power  of  magnetic  attraction  that  never  failed 
to  make  itself  instantly  felt,  in  the'  concert-room  as  in  the 
theatre.  No  other  vocalist  of  her  time — with  the  solitary  ex- 
ception, maybe,  of  Sims  Reeves — could  create  the  "pin-drop" 
silence  that  reigned  while  she  was  singing — above  all,  when 
she  was  singing  "Home,  sweet  home."  With  that  tranquil 
sostenuto  in  the  words  and  tune  of  a  simple  ballad  she  was 
wont  to  hold  ten  thousand  people  entranced — hold  them,  as  it 


380  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

were,  in  the  hollow  of  her  hand ;  to  move  and  sway  their  emo- 
tions at  her  will. 

She  knew  she  had  this  power,  and  she  rejoiced  in  it.  Yet 
never  was  there  a  prima  donna  who  treated  her  public  more 
seriously,  or  would  have  so  scorned  to  play  tricks  with  them 
and  take  advantage  of  their  love  and  indulgence.  She  proved 
it,  first,  by  the  fact  that  she  so  rarely  disappointed  them. 
She  proved  it  again  by  the  conscientious  care  with  which  she 
studied  everything,  whether  an  opera,  an  oratorio,  a  Wagner 
Song,  or  an  ordinary  drawing-room  piece.  For  she  never 
spared  herself  trouble  where  her  art  was  concerned.  Her 
reputation  as  an  artist  was  more  to  her  than  aught  else. 

For  the  same  reason,  she  always  accounted  it  a  blessing 
that  she  knew  her  own  limitations  well  enough  never  to  make 
the  mistake  of  attempting  any  task  that  lay  beyond  her  physi- 
cal means.  She  would  not,  if  she  could  help  it,  risk  the 
humiliation  of  failure  under  any  circumstances.  Occasionally, 
as  we  know,  at  the  height  of  her  fame  at  Covent  Garden,  she 
allowed  herself  to  be  persuaded  to  appear  in  a  mediocre  opera 
"written  specially  for  her"  by  some  second-rate  French  com- 
poser who  happened  to  have  influence  at  the  Tuileries.  The 
blame  for  these  ventures  could  not  really  be  laid  at  her  door. 
In  later  years  she  took  pleasure  in  endeavoring  to  bring  "hid- 
den musical  genius"  (as  she  imagined  it)  to  the  light,  of  day; 
and  very  disappointed  she  was  when  it  proved  not  to  bear  the 
cachet  of  the  real  article. 

Patti  was  always  generous  in  her  applause  for  her  fellow 
artists.  "When  they  were  companions  on  her  many  tours,  she 
would  encourage  and  help  them  with  useful  criticism.  The 
only  fault  she  could  not  pardon  was  stupidity.  She  rarely 
took  the  trouble  to  point  out  the  same  error  a  second  time. 
She  knew  how  to  tolerate  mediocrity  when  she  could  not  avoid 
it ;   but  it  was  rather  from  a  feeling  of  pity  than  because 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  381 

it  did  not  try  her  patience.  Very  often  it  did.  In  those  cases 
she  said  nothing  to  the  offending  parties,  but,  after  consider- 
ing how  far  their  laches  affected  her  comfort  or  the  artistic 
serenity  of  the  ensemble,  she  would  send  for  Mapleson  or  Percy 
Harrison  and  make  the  point  quite  clear.  "You  know,"  she 
would  say,  "I  like  so-and-so  very  much;  but  if  there  is  one 
person  in  this  world  I  cannot  stand,  it  is  an  idiot  or — any- 
body who  habitually  sings  off  the  key." 

The  three  singers  whom  she  admired  most  were  Jenny  Lind, 
Alboni,  and  Christine  Nilsson.  The  last-named  was  unques- 
tionably her  greatest  rival  in  the  esteem  of  the  public ;  but 
they  were  the  best  of  friends,  and  her  admiration  for  the 
talent  of  the  younger  Swedish  artist  was  whole-souled.  When 
she  died,  one  of  the  earliest  and  most  touching  messages  re- 
ceived by  her  husband  (Baron  Cederstrom)  was  from  Christine 
Nilsson,  Countess  Casa  de  Miranda.  The  peerless  Alboni  she 
loved,  and  thought  her  voice  the  most  beautiful  contralto  that 
the  world  had  ever  known.  Nor  did  she  ever  forget  their  won- 
derful duet  at  Rossini's  funeral. 

From  her  girlhood  her  adoration  of  Jenny  Lind  had  grown 
together  with  her  memory  of  that  renowned  singer,  whom  she 
had  been  taken  when  a  child  to  hear  in  America.  It  was 
only  in  after  years  that  she  learned  how  entirely  reciprocal 
was  the  admiration  existing  between  them — the  one  who  had 
been  called  the  "Swedish  Nightingale"  and  the  one  who 
was  now  known  as  the  ' '  Queen  of  Song. ' '  Once,  early  in  the 
eighties,  Madame  Lind-Goldschmidt  went  to  hear  Patti  at  Co- 
vent  Garden.  She  was  accompanied  by  Sir  Arthur  Sullivan, 
who,  when  he  next  met  Mme.  Patti,  asked  her  if  she  would 
like  to  know  what  Jenny  Lind  had  said  about  her.  ' '  I  would 
indeed, ' '  was  her  reply.  ' '  Well, ' '  said  Sir  Arthur,  ' '  she  made 
this  remark:  'There  is  only  one  Niagara;  and  there  is  only 
one  Patti.'  "  The  recipient  of  the  compliment  treasured  it 
as  the  greatest  that  had  ever  been  bestowed  upon  her. 


382  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

"A  beautiful  voice  is  the  gift  of  God."  These  words, 
written  by  Adelina  Patti  in  the  birthday-book  of  a  friend,  at 
once  indicate  her  recognition  of  what  she  herself  owed  to 
nature  and  the  true  source  of  that  modesty  which  was  not  the 
least  of  her  good  qualities.  For,  all  things  considered,  she 
was  a  singularly  modest  woman,  unspoiled  by  adulation,  won- 
derfully free  from  vanity,  affectation,  or  self-assertiveness. 
Free,  too,  from  the  petty  jealousies  or  the  necessity  for  in- 
trigue common  to  the  atmosphere  of  the  stage  and  the  vie 
d'artiste,  she  commanded  the  sincere  affection  and  respect  of 
those  who  came  into  contact  with  her,  and  bore  herself  with 
queenly  dignity  and  a  sweet  amiability  of  manner  toward  all 
alike. 

So  much  for  the  woman.  Of  the  singer  what  is  there  to 
say  that  has  not  already  been  said  ? 

One  of  the  main  objects  of  this  life-story  has  been  to  give 
a  faithful  idea  of  what  Patti  was  like,  and  why  she  stood 
for  half-a-century  upon  so  exalted  a  pinnacle  of  fame  and 
glory.  There  is  no  need  to  justify  farther  the  verdict  of  her 
own  public  or  to  anticipate  the  opinion  of  posterity.  It  will 
be  hard  for  future  generations  to  realize,  even  with  the  aid 
of  an  "unvarnished  tale"  such  as  this,  what  a  tremendous 
store  their  forefathers  set  upon  the  last  of  the  ' '  divas. ' '  Com- 
parisons in  such  a  case  are  valueless.  Unluckily,  I  repeat, 
the  gramophone  came  too  late  to  preserve  reproductions  of 
her  voice  while  anywhere  near  its  prime.  The  records  that 
she  made  (as  described  in  the  previous  chapter)  convey  but 
a  faint  notion  of  the  pristine  splendor  of  its  timbre.  Could 
it  ever  have  been  conveyed  ? 

Her  singing  was,  nevertheless,  an  unalloyed  delight  to  all 
who  heard  her,  not  only  in  her  prime,  but  long  after  her 
career  had  passed  its  meridian ;  and  alas !  she  took  the  secret 
of  her  wondrous  art  with  her.  Her  would-be  imitators  found 
her    inimitable    even    when    they    had    the    opportunity    of 


THE  EEIGN  OF  PATTI  383 

listening  to  her  in  propria  persona.  They  caught  a  pale  re- 
flex of  her  method  and  her  manner;  but  to  copy  her  style — 
the  spontaneity,  the  glowing  warmth,  the  impulsive  energy, 
the  inexpressible  charm  of  Patti— of  that  which  was  Patti— 
apart  altogether  from  her  supreme  technical  mastery,  lay  far, 
very  far  beyond  their  power. 

She  was  the  model,  the  inspiration,  for  every  operatic 
prima  donna  whose  "fretful  hour"  upon  the  lyric  boards  coin- 
cided with  her  own.  Not  one  of  them  was  ever  known  to 
grudge  her  willing  homage  or  deep,  unmeasured,  abiding  ad- 
miration. 

And  so  a  last  farewell,  0  Queen  of  Song, 
To  close  the  record  of  your  glorious  reign; 
Nor  shall  the  dwellers  in  this  poorer  world 
E'er  listen  spellbound  to  your  like  again. 


APPENDIX  A 

THE  MUSICAL  TRAINING  OF  ADELINA  PATTI 

(From  the  Times,  August  7,  1884) 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 
Sir: 

In  the  Times  of  July  28  it  is  stated  that  Adelina  Patti  was  trained 
by  a  Hungarian  teacher.  Let  me,  sir,  establish  the  truth,  having 
been  her  first  musical  director  and  conductor  at  the  Academy  of 
Music,  New  York,  when  she  appeared  in  opera  for  the  first  time  on 
the  night  of  Thanksgiving  Day,  Thursday,  November  24,  1859. 

She  never  had  a  Hungarian  teacher.  Her  first  teacher,  when  she 
was  a  child,  was  Signora  Paravalli,  an  Italian  prima  donna;  then 
her  half-brothers  Antonio  and  Ettore  Barili.  The  first  died  in 
Naples  some  years  ago,  and  the  second  is  still  living  and  teaching 
in  New  York.  In  the  year  1859  Messrs.  B.  Ullmann  and  Maurice 
Strakosch  were  associate  managers  of  the  Academy  of  Music.  The 
prime  donne  engaged  by  the  latter  in  Europe,  Crescimanno  and 
Speranza,  made  a  failure.  Under  the  circumstances,  Adelina's 
sister,  Mme.  Strakosch,  suggested  the  idea  of  making  the  little  girl 
appear  in  opera.  Her  husband  was  opposed  to  it,  saying  she  was 
too  young.  I  was  then  appealed  to,  and,  being  the  musical  direc- 
tor, the  decision  was  left  to  me,  and,  after  hearing  a  single  piece 
sung  by  her,  I  concluded  favourably  for  the  debut.  Mr.  Strakosch 
was  invariably  opposed,  and  the  other  manager,  Mr.  Ullmann,  said: 
"I  do  like  Pontius  Pilate:  I  wash  my  hands.  If  she  succeeds,  so 
much  the  better  for  you;  if  not,  so  much  the  worse  for  you."  The 
conditions  of  the  engagement  were  stipulated  with  her  father,  Salva- 
tore  Patti,  at  one  hundred  dollars  for  each  representation.  I  then 
began  to  teach  her  Donizetti's  opera  "Lucia"  at  Mr.  Strakosch's 
house.  After  she  had  learned  her  part  I  announced  a  pianoforte 
rehearsal  with  the  other  artists — Brignoli,  the  tenor;  Amadio,  the 

384 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  385 

baritone;  and  Coletti,  the  basso.  Everybody  was  pleased  with  her 
voice.  At  the  orchestra  rehearsal  she  surprised  everybody,  and  she 
had  an  ovation  from  the  musicians.  At  the  general  rehearsal,  for 
which  hundreds  and  hundreds  of  invitations  had  been  issued,  she 
made  a  sensation;  and  on  her  first  appearance,  on  the  24th  of  No- 
vember, 1859,  she  created  an  excitement,  and  she  was  encored  in  the 
septuor  and  in  the  Mad  Scene. 

After  having  taught  her  "Lucia,"  I  did  the  same  for  "Sonnam- 
bula."  Then  Signor  Manzocchi,  a  maitre  de  chant  of  talent,  pre- 
pared her  for  the  "Barbiere  di  Siviglia,"  "Puritarii,"  etc.  Her  suc- 
cess never  abated  during  the  two  seasons  she  sang  at  the  Academy 
of  Music.  The  conclusion  is  that  Mme.  Adelina  Patti  was  not 
trained  by  a  Hungarian  teacher,  but  only  Italian  teachers,  who  had 
the  true  tradition  of  good  schools  for  singing,  and  they  were  Signora 
Paravalli,  Ettore  and  Antonio  Barili,  Muzio,  and  Manzocchi. 

Believe  me,  your  obedient  servant, 

Emmanuel  Muzio, 
(Formerly  Music  Director  of  the  Academy  of  Music,  New  York;  of 
the  Italiens  in  Paris;  and  at  Venice,  Bologna,  Milan,  etc.,  5  Rue  des 
Capucines,  Paris.) 

MAURICE  STRAKOSCH'S  REPLY  TO  THE  ABOVE 

To  the  Editor  of  the  Times. 

Sir:  Under  the  heading  "The  Musical  Training  of  Adelina  Patti" 
a  statement  has  recently  appeared  in  the  Times.  Its  publication 
proves  the  interest  your  readers  take  in  everything  that  concerns  that 
great  artist.     I  send  you  a  brief  statement  of  the  facts. 

In  October,  1843,  in  Vicenza,  Italy,  I  gave  a  concert  at  which 
Clotilda,  the  [half]  sister  of  Adelina,  appeared.  The  child  Adelina 
was  then  six  months  old;  and  from  that  time  on,  with  a  few  excep- 
tions mentioned  later  on,  I  was  constantly  with  Adelina  Patti  until 
her  marriage  to  the  Marquis  de  Caux. 

She  was,  so  to  say,  born  in  and  to  the  opera.  Her  mother  was 
singing  Norma  when  she  found  herself  compelled  to  leave  the  stage 
before  the  last  act;  shortly  after,  Patti' s  baby  voice  was  heard.1 

1  This  part  of  Mr.  Strakosch's  statement  is  not  exactly  in  accord  with 
the  known  facts. 


386  TITE  REIGN  OF  PATH 

The  child  was  with  her  mother  at  the  opera  even  when  a  baby, 
and  at  the  age  of  three  years  her  father  went  to  New  York  to  direct 
Italian  opera  in  that  city.  She  could  herself,  when  only  four  years 
old,  sing  many  of  the  most  difficult  operatic  airs  almost  to  perfection, 
incredible  as  this  may  seem.  Besides  her  mother  and  sisters,  she 
heard  the  great  artists  of  that  day,  I,  then  her  brother-in-law,  taking 
care  that  she  should  lose  no  opportunity  of  doing  so.  Among  those 
she  heard  at  that  tender,  impressionable  age  I  may  mention  Jenny 
Lind,  Grisi,  Bosio,  Sontag,  Frezzolini,  Piccolomini,  Alboni,  and 
Parepa-Rosa. 

Signora  Paravelli,  a  friend  of  the  house,  taught  the  child  her 
letters,  and,  being  a  good  singer  and  pianist,  sometimes  played  her 
accompaniments  when  she  sang. 

One  day,  Max  Maretzek,  successor  to  Signor  Patti  as  director,  was 
to  give  a  charity  benefit  at  Tripler's  Hall,  New  York,  all  his  operatic 
artists  taking  part.  Then  and  there,  in  1S50,  Adelina  Patti,  not  yet 
eight  years  of  age,  made  her  first  public  appearance,  singing  the 
"Rondo"  from  "Sonnainbula,"  and  Jenny  Lind's  "'Echo  Song." 

I  had  just  returned  from  a  concert  tour,  and  at  the  urgent  request 
of  her  parents,  who  were  members  of  my  household,  I  organised 
some  concerts  for  Adelina,  and  with  marked  success.  Soon  after  I 
made  an  arrangement  for  her  appearance  in  the  concerts  of  the 
great  violinist,  Ole  Bull,  which  I  directed  and  managed,  with  Ade- 
lina as  one  of  the  company,  some  three  years. 

During  those  years  she  studied  with  me  and  learned  over  one 
hundred  operatic  selections  and  ballads,  hearing  and  seeing  the  best 
vocal  and  dramatic  artists.  She  never  failed  to  sing  daily  her 
scales  and  exercises. 

When  she  was  between  twelve  and  thirteen,  and  it  was  best  that 
she  should  cease  singing  for  a  time,  I  was  absent  from  her,  en- 
gaged in  writing  an  opera  "'Giovanni  di  Napoli,"  written  for  Mile. 
Parodi,  and  performed  in  New  York  in  1857.  During  my  absence, 
and  against  my  advice,  she  made  a  tour  in  the  West  Indies  with 
Gottschalk,  and  was  gone  about  two  years.  Until  I  rejoined  her, 
she  studied  with  her  half-brother,  Ettore  Barili,  also  with  Signor 
Manzocchi,  learning  two  operas — "Sonnambula"  and  "Lucia." 

When  she  was  fifteen,  both  her  parents,  thinking  her  ready  for  the 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  387 

stage,  and  encouraged  by  all  who  heard  the  marvellous  child,  desired 
that  she  should  make  her  operatic  debut.  I  most  earnestly  opposed 
it,  assured  that  her  voice  needed  rest  and  development.  I  fortu- 
nately persuaded  them  to  postpone  her  appearance  for  one  year, 
when  I  thought  she  could  safely  take  a  principal  part  in  operatic 
performances.  She  studied  faithfully  the  ensuing  months,  and  I 
altered  some  passages  in  which  her  voice  was  too  severely  taxed, 
and  introduced  cadenzas  which  enabled  her  to  employ  her  marvellous 
upper  register  in  the  two  operas  of  "Sonnambula"  and  "Lucia" — 
cadenzas  which  Mme.  Patti  still  sings  without  change. 

She  made  her  debut  on  the  24th  November,  1859,  under  my  man- 
agement, having  one  single  piano  and  one  orchestral  rehearsal  with 
my  then  conductor,  Signor  E.  Muzio.  She  had  on  that  first  night 
the  phenomenal  success  which  has  but  continued  and  augmented  ever 
since.  During  a  period  of  nine  years  I  was  never  absent  for  a  day 
from  her  father  and  herself,  nor  failed  to  study  with  her.  I  was 
her  sole  vocal  and  musical  instructor.  During  that  time  I  had  the 
honour  of  presenting  her  to  the  London  public  and  the  principal 
European  capitals,  her  first  appearance  in  London  taking  place  on  the 
14th  of  May,  1861.  And,  by  and  by,  I  had  no  little  difficulty  in 
effecting  an  arrangement  with  the  veteran  manager,  Mr.  Gye,  whose 
fame  as  an  opera  director  will  never  die.  I  only  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing an  engagement  which  compelled  Patti  to  sing  three  nights  with- 
out pay,  Gye  reserving  the  right  to  engage  her  for  five  seasons  on 
his  own  terms.  He  paid  her  the  first  season  £150  a  month,  she 
to  sing  eight  times  —  not  quite  £20  a  night.  Times  have  changed 
since  then. 

She  studied  with  me  from  the  first  to  the  last  note  the  fol- 
lowing operas,  and  retains  my  cadenzas  and  changes  at  the  present 
moment:  "Barbiere  di  Siviglia,"  "Don  Pasquale,"  "Puritani," 
"Elisir  d'Amore,"  "Martha,"  "Don  Giovanni"  (Zerlina),  "Traviata," 
"Trovatore,"  "Rigoletto,"  "Ernani,"  "Mose  in  Egitto,"  "Othello," 
"Linda  di  Chamouni,"  "Dinorah,"  "Huguenots"  (Valentina) , 
"Faust,"  "Romeo  e  Giuletta,"  Verdi's  "Giovanna  d'Arco,"  "Don 
Desiderio"  by  Poniatowsky,1  etc. 

i  This  opera  was  produced  at  Pisa  in  1839  and  at  Paris  in  1858,  but 
there  is  no  evidence  that  Patti  ever  sang  in  it. 


388  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

I  claim  no  special  merit  for  this,  as  Adelina  Patti  had  really 
so  exceptional  a  talent  that  she  would  prohably  have  achieved  all 
that  she  has  without  me,  or  even  more  with  a  more  competent  teacher. 
But  I  must  claim  most  positively  that  I  was  her  only  teacher  for 
a  year  previous  to  her  debut  until  her  marriage. 

It  is  also  my  most  intimate  conviction  that  the  care  I  was  able  to 
exercise  during  the  development  of  her  voice,  and  the  unmatched 
solidity  it  acquired,  not  only  preserved  her  organ  but  helped  to  make 
it  so  exceptional. 

To  those  who  would  dedicate  themselves  to  the  art  of  song  I  would 
say,  "There  is  but  one  method,  that  of  the  old  Italian  school."  I 
myself  was  in  Italy  when  I  could  hear  the  artists  who  knew  the 
traditions  of  that  school,  and  enjoyed  the  instruction  and  friendship 
of  Chevalier  Micheroux,  the  teacher  of  Pasta,  whom  I  also  knew 
intimately.  She  had  retired  to  private  life,  the  possessor  of  a  large 
fortune,  which  she  generously  dispensed  in  aid  of  charity  and  art. 
She  was  living  in  Milan  and  Como,  and  graciously  received  a  certain 
number  of  pupils,  whom  she  fitted  for  the  operatic  stage  when  she 
found  them  sufficiently  talented,  while  to  others  she  gave  a  dot 
enabling  them  to  marry.  When  they  were  receiving  her  instruction 
I  played  for  her  the  accompaniments,  and  the  knowledge  gained  from 
Micheroux  and  Pasta  I  imparted  as  far  as  lay  in  my  power  to  Ade- 
lina Patti. 

Believe  me,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

Maurice  Strakosch. 
Ole  Bull's  Island,  Norway. 


APPENDIX  B 

DEBUT  OF  MISS  PATTI 

(From  the  Neiv  York  Herald,  November  25,  1859) 

A  YOUNG  lady,  not  yet  seventeen,  almost  an  American  by  birth, 
having  arrived  here  when  an  infant,  belonging  to  an  Italian 
family  which  has  been  fruitful  of  good  artists,  sang  last  night  the 
favorite  role  of  debutantes,  Lucia  di  Lammermoor. 

Whether  it  is  from  the  natural  sympathy  with  the  forlorn  fiancee 
of  the  Master  of  Ravenswood  which  is  infused  into  the  female  breast 
with  Donizetti's  tender  music,  or  from  a  clever  inspiration  that  to 
be  unhappy  and  pretty  is  a  sure  passport  to  the  affections  of  an  au- 
dience, we  cannot  say.  Certain  it  is,  however,  that  the  aspirations 
for  the  ovations,  the  triumphs,  the  glories,  that  await  a  successful 
prima  donna  almost  always  select  this  opera  for  their  preliminary 
dash  at  the  laurels.  The  music  affords  a  fine  opportunity  to  show 
the  quality  and  cultivation  of  the  soprano  voice,  and  it  is  so  familiar 
as  to  provoke  comparison  with  first-rate  artists,  and  provoke  the 
severest  criticisms  by  the  most  rigid  recognized  tests. 

All  these  were  duly  and  thoroughly  applied  to  Miss  Adelina  Patti 
a  day  or  two  since  by  a  very  critical  audience  at  what  was  called  a 
show  rehearsal.  It  was  then  ascertained  that  Miss  Patti  had  a  fine 
voice,  and  that  she  knew  how  to  sing.  The  artists  and  amateurs  were 
in  raptures.  This  was  a  certificate  to  the  public,  who  do  not  nowa- 
days put  their  faith  in  managers'  announcements,  unless  they  are 
indorsed.  With  an  off  night  and  an  opera  worn  to  bits,  the  public 
interest  in  Miss  Patti's  debut  was  so  great  as  to  bring  together  a  very 
large  audience,  rather  more  popular  than  usual,  but  still  numbering 
the  best  known  habitues  and  most  critical  amateurs.  The  de- 
butante was  received  politely  but  cordially — an  indication  that  there 
was  not  a  strong  claque,  which  was  a  relief.  Her  appearance  was 
that  of  a  young  lady,  petite  and  interesting,  with  just  a  tinge  of 

389 


390  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

school-room  in  her  manner.  She  was  apparently  self-possessed,  hut 
not  self-assured. 

After  the  first  few  bars  of  recitative,  she  launched  boldly  into  the 
cavatina — one  of  the  most  difficult  pieces  of  the  opera.  This  she 
sang  perfectly,  displaying  a  thorough  Italian  method  and  a  high  so- 
prano voice,  fresh  and  full  and  even  throughout.  In  the  succeeding 
cabaletta,  which  was  brilliantly  executed,  Miss  Patti  took  the  high 
note  E  fiat,  above  the  line,  with  the  greatest  ease.  In  this  cabaletta 
we  noticed  a  tendency  to  show  off  vocal  gifts  which  may  be  just 
a  little  out  of  place.  The  introduction  of  variations  not  written 
by  the  composer  is  only  pardonable  in  an  artist  who  has  already  as- 
sured her  position. 

In  the  duet  with  the  tenor  (Brignoli)  and  with  the  baritone 
(Ferri),  and  the  Mad  Scene,  Miss  Patti  sang  with  sympathetic 
tenderness — a  rare  gift  in  one  so  young — and  increased  the  enthusi- 
asm of  the  audience  to  a  positive  furore,  which  was  demonstrated 
in  the  usual  way — recalls,  bouquets,  wreaths,  etc.,  etc.  The  horti- 
cultural business  was  more  extensive  than  usual. 

Of  course  we  speak  to-day  only  of  Miss  Patti's  qualifications  as  a 
singer.  Acting  she  has  yet  to  learn ;  but  artists,  like  poets,  are  born, 
not  made.  The  mere  convenances  of  the  stage  will  come  of  them- 
selves. She  is  already  pretty  well  acquainted  with  them.  So  far 
as  her  voice,  skill,  method,  and  execution  are  concerned,  we  are  sim- 
ply recording  the  unanimous  opinion  of  the  public  when  we  pro- 
nounce the  debut  of  Miss  Patti  a  grand  success. 

Everyone  predicts  a  career  for  this  young  artist,  and  who  knows 
but  the  managers  may  find  in  her  their  long-looked-for  sensation? 

On  the  same  day  the  following  curiously  worded  but  obvi- 
ously sincere  notice  appeared  in  the  New  York  Tribune: 

Extraordinary  interest  was  excited  last  evening  on  the  first  ap- 
pearance of  Miss  Adeline  Patti,  of  this  city,  in  the  character  of 
Lucia.  The  qualities  for  this  role  are  full  soprano  voice,  with  abso- 
lute facility  in  the  upper  notes,  thorough  volatility  of  tone,  or  rapid 
execution,  great  power  of  holding  tones,  especially  attenuating  them 
to  the  last  degree,  a  gentle  ladylike  demeanor,  and  to  some  extent 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  391 

clearness  of  dramatic  action.  All  these  Miss  Adeline  Patti  pos- 
sesses unequivocally.  She  is  neatly  formed,  with  a  sympathetic 
face;  she  has  a  good  carriage  and  mode  of  holding  herself  in  the 
necessary  dramatic  position.  Her  voice  is  clear  and  excellent;  the 
brilliant  execution  with  which  she  begins  at  the  outset  of  her  career 
— she  is  only  turned  of  sweet  sixteen — ranks  with  that  where  the 
best  singers  end.  This  is  saying  a  good  deal,  but  it  is  not  an 
overstatement.  .  .  .  There  is  in  her  as  much  sentiment  as  we  ought 
to  look  for  in  one  so  young.  Great  passion,  heart-rending  pathos, 
can  only  be  found  in  the  artist,  whether  the  singer,  the  actor,  or  the 
orator;  after  an  experience  with  the  world  realities,  with  its  sadness, 
its  sorrows.  These  will  all  come  fast  enough  to  give  the  tragic 
element  to  the  young  aspirant.  .  .  .  Miss  Adeline  Patti,  though  an 
American  without  a  transatlantic  puff,  though  a  child  brought  up 
in  the  midst  of  us,  a  positive  unqualified  rich  success — because  she 
merited  it.  The  applause  from  a  good  audience  was  immense ;  calls 
before  the  curtain  and  bouquets  were  the  order  of  the  night. 

Also  this  excerpt  from  correspondence  to  Dwight's  Journal 
of  Music  of  the  same  date : 

Last  evening  Miss  Adeline  Patti,  who  some  years  ago  sang  as  an 
infant  prodigy,  made  her  second  debut  as  a  prima  donna.  Verily 
it  made  us  old  opera  habitues  feel  older  than  ever,  and  the  sadness 
attending  the  thought  of  our  own  years  naturally  attuned  our  souls 
to  a  full  enjoyment  of  the  melancholy  beauty  of  the  Lucia.  So  far, 
I  have  heard  no  dissenting  opinion  touching  the  abilities  of  the 
young  debutante.  She  is  most  pleasing  in  countenance,  has  enjoyed 
really  judicious  instruction,  rejoices  in  a  freshness  of  voice  extraor- 
dinary, and  knows  no  such  word  as  fiasco.     Let  her  be  heard  more ! 


APPENDIX  C 

DEBUT  IN  PHILADELPHIA 

(Extract  from  a  Philadelphia  paper:     February,  1860) 

THE  best  school  of  music  .  .  .  lives  still  in  the  person  of 
Miss  Adelina  Patti,  the  young  artist  who  last  evening  en- 
chanted a  large  audience  at  the  Academy  of  Music  by  her  exquisite 
performance  of  the  heroine  in  "Lucia  di  Lammermoor."  There  were 
hundreds  there  with  whom  Lucia  had  long  been  worn  threadbare, 
and  a  new  sensation  in  connection  with  it  was  pronounced  impossi- 
ble. But  even  to  the  most  blase  of  opera-goers  the  evening  was 
one  of  delighted  surprise  and  greater  enthusiasm  has  never  been 
exhibited  in  the  Academy  on  any  occasion. 

Miss  Patti  is  very  young  in  years  and  appearance,  but  she  is  a 
finished  artist.  She  makes  her  debut,  indeed,  at  a  point  of  perfec- 
tion to  which  mature  prima  donnas  never  attain.  .  .  .  Her  voice  is 
a  pure,  delicious  soprano,  of  great  evenness  and  purity  of  tone, 
amply  powerful  in  the  upper  and  medium  parts  and  promising 
greater  strength  in  the  lower.  It  is  a  fresh,  unspoiled  voice,  with 
no  tremble  in  it,  and  none  of  the  cracks  that  exposure  to  the  Verdi 
fire  always  makes  in  that  delicate  article,  the  female  voice.  It  is  as 
flexible  as  Sontag's,with  a  good  natural  shake,  and  a  facility  of 
execution  that  makes  all  appearance  of  physical  effort  in  the  most 
elaborate  passages  totally  unnecessary.  Nature  has  done  everything 
for  Miss  Patti;  but  the  very  best  teaching  has  given  her  that  beau- 
tiful graceful  delivery,  noticeable  particularly  in  recitative  passages, 
but  not  the  less  to  be  admired  in  others.  She  has  been  singing 
ever  since  she  could  walk,  having  really  "lisped  in  numbers."  She 
has  been  heard  here  in  concerts  when  only  eight  or  ten  years  of  age. 
But  the  usual  fate  of  infant  prodigies  has  not  attended  her;  for  her 
talent  and  her  voice  have  grown  with  her  growth,  and,  having  ceased 

392 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  393 

to  be  an  infant  phenomenon,  she  is  now  that  far  rarer  phenomenon, 
a  beautiful  singer  of  the  purest  and  best  school  .  .  . 

The  triumph  of  the  evening  was  in  the  Mad  Scene,  which  was 
full  of  touching  tenderness,  united  with  as  beautiful  singing  as  ever 
fell  from  mortal  lips.  At  its  close  the  audience  were  entirely  thrown 
off  their  usual  reserve.  Bouquets  flew  from  every  part  of  the  house, 
the  young  artist  was  thrice  called  out,  and  at  the  last  call  there  was 
an  irrepressible  shout  of  enthusiasm,  the  most  honest  and  legitimate 
ever  displayed  in  the  Academy. 


APPENDIX  D 

DEBUT  AT  CO VENT  GARDEN 

(From  the  Times,  Wednesday,  May  15,  1861) 

ANEW  Amino  does  not  usually  excite  much  curiosity  among  fre- 
quenters  of  the  opera.  There  have  been  since  the  days  of 
Malibran  so  many  Aminos,  and  nineteen  out  of  twenty  of  them  com- 
monplace. Even  the  announcement  of  a  new  singer,  irrespective  of 
Amino,  or  'Lucia,  or  Arline,  or  Maritana,  or  any  other  character, 
Italian  or  English  (not  excepting  the  Traviata  herself) — so  strong 
the  reaction  against  preliminary  flourish — is  nowadays  received  with 
something  like  indifference.  How  many  Pastas,  how  many  Grisis, 
how  many  Jenny  Linds  ("nightingales/'  of  course)  have  suddenly 
come  forth  and  as  suddenly  vanished,  or  at  best  remained  content  to 
occupy  a  second-,  third-,  or  fourth-rate  position?  The  musical  pub- 
lic has  sunk  into  a  sort  of  lethargic  and  cynical  incredulity,  the 
result  of  many  sanguine  hopes  raised,  and  just  as  many  woefully 
disappointed. 

At  present — we  may  venture  to  suggest — the  most  prudent  way 
to  obtain  an  impartial  and  indulgent  hearing  for  a  new  aspirant  to 
lyric  honours  is  to  say  nothing  in  advance.  Mr.  Gye  has  adopted  this 
course  of  action,  or  inaction,  with  regard  to  a  very  young  lady  who 
made  her  first  appearance  last  night  as  the  heroine  of  "La  Sonnam- 
bula,"  and  who,  we  may  add  at  once,  created  such  a  sensation  as 
has  not  been  parallelled  for  years.  It  was  simply  advertised,  last 
week,  that  Tuesday,  May  14,  Mile.  Adelina  Patti  would  assume  the 
part  of  Amina  in  Bellini's  well  known  opera.  Apart  from  those 
who  had  visited  the  United  States  of  America,  or  those  in  the  habit 
of  perusing  the  musical  notices  of  American  journals,  no  one  had 
ever  heard  of  Mile.  Adelina  Patti ;  and  thus,  although  the  house  was 
brilliantly  attended  (it  being  a  "subscription  night")j  there  were 
no  symptoms  whatever  of  a  more  than  ordinary  degree  of  expecta- 
tion.    As   that   diverting  necromancer,   Gospadin    Friskell,   used  to 

394 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  395 

declare,  there  was  "no  preparation" ;  certainly  there  was  no  '-'claque" 
— no  disposition  to  anticipate  favour  or  extort  applause.  The  de- 
butante was  at  first  calmly,  then  more  warmly,  then  enthusiastically 
— but  always  fairly  and  dispassionately — judged;  and  she  who,  to 
Europe  at  any  rate,  was  yesterday  without  a  name,  before  to-morrow 
will  be  a  "town  talk." 

And  now  comes  the  difficult  part  of  our  task.  Is  Mile.  Adeline 
Patti — it  would  naturally  be  asked — a  phenomenon?  Decidedly 
yes.  Is  she  a  perfect  artist?  Decidedly  no.  How  can  a 
girl  of  scarcely  eighteen  summers  have  reached  perfection  in  an 
art  so  difficult1?  It  is  simply  impossible.  We  are  almost  inclined 
to  say  she  is  something  better  than  perfect;  for  perfection  at  her 
age  could  be  little  else  than  mechanical,  and  might  probably  settle 
down  at  last  into  a  cold  abstraction  or  mere  commonplace  technical 
correctness.  No;  Mile.  Patti  has  the  faults  incidental  to  youth  and 
experience;  but  these  in  no  single  instance  wear  the  semblance  of 
being  ineradicable;  on  the  contrary,  they  are  in  a  great  measure 
the  consequence  of  an  ardent  ambition  to  attain  at  a  jump  what  can 
only  be  attained  with  years  of  laborious  application. 

The  management  of  the  voice,  the  gradation  of  tone,  the  balance 
of  cadence,  the  rounding  off  of  phrase,  are  all  occasionally  more 
or  less  defective;  but  to  compensate  for  these  inevitable  drawbacks 
there  is  an  abiding  charm  in  every  vocal  accent,  an  earnestness  in 
every  look,  and  an  intelligence  in  every  movement  and  gesture  that 
undeniably  proclaim  an  artist  "native  and  to  the  manner  born." 
And  let  it  be  understood  that  these  qualities  of  charm,  of  earnest- 
ness, and  of  intelligence  are  not  merely  the  prepossessing  attributes 
of  extreme  youth,  allied  to  personal  comeliness,  but  the  evident 
offspring  of  thought,  of  talent — we  may  almost  add  of  genius,  but 
assuredly  of  natural  endowments,  both  mental  and  physical,  far 
beyond  the  average. 

Mile.  Patti's  first  appearance  on  the  stage  seemed  to  take  the  au- 
dience by  surprise.  So  young  an  Amino — young  enough  in  appear- 
ance to  be  the  daughter  of  her  Elvino  (Signor  Tiberini) — an  Amina, 
in  short,  not  yet  done  growing — had  never  before  been  witnessed. 
The  recitative,  "Care  compagne,"  however,  showed  at  once  that  in 
this   particular   case   youthfulness   and   depth   of   feeling   might   be 


396  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

found  both  naturally  and  gracefully  united;  while,  long  before  the 
termination  of  the  air  "Come  per  me  sereno,"  with  its  brilliant 
cabaletta,  "Sovra  il  sen  la  man  mi  posa,"  a  conviction  was  unani- 
mously entertained  by  the  audience  that  a  singer  of  genuine  feeling, 
rare  gifts,  and  decided  originality  stood  before  them. 

A  high  soprano  voice,  equal,  fresh,  and  telling  in  every  note  of 
the  medium,  the  upper  E  flat  and  even  F  at  ready  command;  admir- 
able accentuation  of  the  words;  considerable  flexibility;  dashing  and 
effective  use  of  "bravura";  expression  warm,  energetic,  and  varied, 
wmile  never  exaggerated  and,  last,  not  least,  an  intonation  scarcely 
ever  at  fault — such  were  the  valuable  qualities  that  revealed  them- 
selves in  turn  during  the  execution  of  Amino? s  well  known  apos- 
trophe to  her  companions  on  the  auspicious  day  that  is  to  unite  her 
to  El  vino,  and  which  raised  the  house  to  positive  enthusiasm. 

A  thing  that  must  have  astonished  everyone  was  the  thorough 
ease  and  aplomb  (an  excellent  tenn)  with  which  so  young  a  stranger 
confronted  so  formidable  an  assembly  in  the  midst  of  difficulties 
that  at  times  are  apt  to  unsettle  the  oldest  and  most  practised 
stage  singers.  Too  much  self-composure,  it  might  be  urged,  for  one 
of  Mile.  Patti's  years,  were  it  not  that  the  ingenious  confidence  of 
youth,  when  uncheckered  by  the  susceptibility  of  a  nervous  tempera- 
ment, often  makes  it  unapprehensive  of  danger  and  careless  of  re- 
sults. At  any  rate,  Mile.  Adelina  Patti's  first  essay  was  a  veritable 
triumph,  and  her  ultimate  success  thus  placed  beyond  a  doubt. 

When  the  applause  at  the  end  of  "  Come  per  me  sereno"  had  sub- 
sided, there  was  a  general  buzz  of  satisfaction.  The  conscious- 
ness of  a  new  sensation  having  been  unexpectedly  experienced  seemed 
universal  among  the  audience,  who  in  grateful  recognition  might  have 
addressed  the  new  songstress  in  the  language  with  which  the  village 
chorus  apostrophise  Amina: 

Vive  felice!  e  questo 

II  commun  voto,  O  Adelina! 

The  history  of  Mile.  Patti's  first  appearance  is  told  in  the  fore- 
going. What  followed  was  to  match.  Needless  to  describe  the 
familiar  incident  of  the  bedroom,  the  arraignment  and  despair  of 
Amina;  still   less   requisite   to   descant   upon   the  Mill   Scene,   with 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  397 

the  touching  appeal  of  the  innocent  girl  to  the  flowers  that  drop 
from  her  unconscious  hands;  or  the  awakening  of  the  somnambulist 
to  rapture,  when  her  innocence  is  established  and  her  lover  once 
more  at  her  feet.  Enough  that  "Ah,  non  credea  mirarti"  was 
given  with  the  truest  expression,  and  "Ah,  non  giunge"  with  won- 
derful brilliancy,  at  the  second  verse  rendered  still  more  brilliant 
by  a  variety  of  new  ornaments  (the  "staccato,"  as  in  the  first 
cavatina,  slightly  over-obtruded),  the  high  E  flat  and  the  F  again 
successfully  attacked,  and  the  whole  crowned  with  a  neat,  equal,  and 
powerful  shake  upon  the  penultimate  note — which,  considering  that 
the  air  was  sung  in  the  original  key  (B  flat),  was  a  feat  of  no  small 
peril. 

The  descent  of  the  curtain  was  the  signal  for  loud  and  long- 
continued  plaudits.  For  the  third  time  Mile.  Patti  was  led  for- 
ward by  Signor  Tiberini;  and  then,  in  obedience  to  a  general  sum- 
mons, she  came  on  alone,  to  receive  fresh  honours.  To  conclude — 
if  Mile.  Patti  will  rightly  estimate  the  enthusiasm  caused  by  her 
first  appearance  before  the  most  generous  (although  perhaps  the 
most  jaded)  of  operatic  publics,  and — not  regarding  herself  as 
faultless — study  her  art  with  increased  assiduity,  a  bright  future 
is  in  store  for  her.  If,  on  the  other  hand, — but  we  would  rather 
not  contemplate  the  opposite  contingency. 

(From  the  Times,  second  notice,  May  23,  1861) 

The  second  appearance  of  Mademoiselle  Adelina  Patti  has  con- 
firmed her  triumph.  The  house,  last  night,  was  crammed  to  suffo- 
cation, and  the  enthusiasm  of  the  audience  unbounded.  So  great 
was  the  excitement  that  we  were  reminded  of  the  hottest  days  (or 
nights)  of  rivalry  between  our  two  Italian  operas,  with  Jenny  Lind 
at  the  Haymarket  and  Alboni  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera,  each 
counting  adherents  by  the  thousands,  and  giving  occasion  for  as 
much  controversial  warmth  as  if  that  memorable  contest  between  the 
German  Gluck  and  the  Italian  Piccini,  which  even  the  gravity  of 
history  is  unable  to  ignore,  had  been  revived  with  augmented  vigour. 
Mile.  Patti  and  her  manager,  nevertheless,  enjoy  at  the  present  mo- 
ment an  advantage  of  which  neither  Mile.  Lind  and  Mr.  Lumley,  nor 
Mile.  Alboni  and  Mr.  Frederick  Beale,  could  boast.     There  is  no 


398  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

opposition  to  contend  with,  and  therefore  nothing  to  divide  the  at- 
tention of  the  operatic  world.  The  young  prima  donna  is  alone 
in  her  glory,  and  it  depends  on  herself  to  walk  over  the  course, 
not  merely  with  ease,  but  with  distinction.  That,  besides  the  strong 
attraction  inseparable  from  youth  and  promise,  Mile.  Patti  possesses 
the  secret  of  charming  impartial  hearers  into  zealous  partisans, 
is  pretty  evident.  Whatever  she  does  is  applauded — not  with  the 
conventional  nonchalance  of  indifferent  approval,  but  with  applause 
dictated  to  the  hands  by  the  heart.  Every  point  in  her  impersona- 
tion of  Amino  that  '"told"  on  the  night  of  her  first  appearance  was 
doubly  appreciated  now;  and— not  to  enter  into  long  detail,  at  the 
end  of  "Ah,  non  giunge"  (which,  by  the  way,  she  gave  with  an  in- 
creased brilliancy,  the  result  of  increased  confidence)  the  audience 
were  fairly  beside  themselves.  Of  course,  Mile.  Patti  came  for- 
ward with  Signor  Tiberini.     Of  course  she  appeared. 

(From  the  Musical  World,  May  18,  1861) 

"La  Sonnambula,"  on  Tuesday,  was  one  of  the  most  interesting 
performances  we  have  witnessed  at  the  Royal  Italian  Opera.  The 
success  of  Mile.  Adelina  Patti— now,  indeed,  the  principal  topic 
in  London  musical  circles— took  everybody  by  surprise,  except  those 
who  had  been  present  at  the  rehearsal  and  who  were  let  into  the  se- 
cret. The  reports  of  the  American  journals,  although  apparently 
overcharged  and  extravagant,  must  really  be  received  as  a  closer 
approximation  to  the  truth.  The  writers  in  the  London  papers  on 
Wednesday,  except  in  one  or  two  instances,  are  as  high-flown, 
uncompromising,  and  enthusiastic  in  the  young  artist's  praise  as 
their  contemporaries  of  the  New  Orleans  and  Philadelphia  press 
whose  articles  we  have  published. 

Mile.  Patti  is  even  now,  at  eighteen  years  of  age,  in  many  re- 
spects a  great  singer.  Her  voice  is  beautiful  in  quality — a  real 
soprano  equal  in  every  part  of  the  register,  without  the  slightest 
tendency  to  tremulousness,  and  reaching  to  F  in  alt  with  astonish- 
ing ease.  It  is,  moreover,  extremely  flexible,  and  is  managed  w*ith 
more  than  ordinary  skill.  The  young  lady,  indeed,  is  almost  a 
thorough  mistress  of  vocalisation,  and  has  evidently  devoted  her 
whole  soul  to  her  profession.  ...  We  were  surprised  and  delighted 


o 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  399 

beyond  measure  with  her  performance  of  Amina,  which  created  the 
greatest  sensation  we  have  known  at  Covent  Garden  for  years. 
Mile.  Patti's  histrionic — if  not  so  marked  as  her  vocal — powers 
everywhere  betray  the  true  instinct  of  genius;  and  there  are  some 
parts  of  her  acting  in  the  "Sonnambula"  which  could  hardly  be 
surpassed  for  truth,  grace,  and  intensity  of  feeling. 

(Editorial  article,  Musical  World,  May  18,  1861) 

We  had  read  about  the  lady  in  foreign  journals,  and  had  writ- 
ten about  her  no  later  than  last  week;  but,  although  all  we  had 
read  was  highly  eulogistic,  and  though  we  presented  her  in  a  most 
favourable  light  to  the  reader,  ...  we  were  by  no  means  sanguine 
as  to  the  result.  The  general  audience,  of  course,  who  knew  noth- 
ing whatsoever  about  Miss  Adelina  Patti,  was  apathetic  in  the  ex- 
treme, and  thei'e  was  not  the  least  excitement  manifested.  The 
theatre,  though  subsequently  full,  at  first,  indeed,  was  badly  at- 
tended, and  little  interest  or  curiosity  was  betokened  for  the  de- 
butante. A  few,  however,  who  learned  what  had  taken  place  at 
rehearsal,  were  anxious  and  excited,  and  these  were  her  solitary 
friends;  and  so  Mile.  Adelina  Patti  made  her  first  appearance  in 
England  with  little  or  no  hope  or  expectation  from  any  feeling 
previously  created  in  her  favour. 

Never  did  singer  make  her  debut  in  this  country  with  so  little 
known  of  her  antecedents,  and  with  so  little  stir  made  about  her 
beforehand.  .  .  .  Her  name  had  only  appeared  four  days  in  ad- 
vance of  her  debut,  and  without  a  single  remark  in  the  advertise- 
ments. Not  only  was  the  young  lady  unheralded  by  puff  of  any 
kind,  but  the  usual,  indeed  indispensable,  statement  as  to  who  she 
was  and  where  she  came  from,  was  omitted  altogether.  Did  the 
director,  assured  of  success,  follow  this  unprecedented  mode  of  secur- 
ing a  sensation?  Or  did  he  fear  for  the  i*esult,  and  so  hold  his 
peace?  We  think  the  latter  most  probable,  as  the  temptation  to 
disclosure  involved  in  the  complete  conviction  of  having  something 
great  to  exhibit  would  be  almost  too  much  for  managerial  forbear- 
ance. Mile.  Adelina  Patti,  we  may  therefore  conclude,  came  out 
without  any  extraordinary  hope  on  the  part  of  the  director — at  all 


400  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

events,  until  after  the  rehearsal,  when  announcement  was  too  late — 
and  with  no  expectation  on  the  part  of  the  public. 

Never  was  surprise  greater,  nor  result  more  triumphant.  Mile. 
Patti  was  welcomed  with  the  warmth  due  to  her  extreme  youth  and 
prepossessing  appearance;  but  there  was  no  enthusiasm.  The  utmost 
attention  was  paid  to  the  recitative  preceding  Amina's  address  to 
her  companions,  and  the  first  hearing  was  satisfactory.  The  young 
artist  for  a  moment  or  two  betrayed  nervousness ;  but  she  instantly 
shook  off  all  fear,  as  if  conscious  of  her  strength,  and  executed  a 
passage  di  bravura  which   completely   electrified    the   house. 

The  audience  was  now  indeed  all  ears,  and  Mile.  Patti's  success 
may  be  chronicled  as  a  perfect  climax,  rising  from  the  first  scene 
and  attaining  its  culminating  point  in  the  famous  rondo  finale 
"Ah,  non  giunge."  What  our  opinions  of  the  debutante  are  will  be 
found  in  our  notice  of  the  young  lady's  performance  in  its  proper 
place.  Meanwhile,  we  may  assert  emphatically  that  Italian  opera 
has  obtained  an  accession  of  strength  in  a  certain  line  which  we 
did  not  expect  to  witness  in  our  time.  Mile.  Adelina  Patti  is  a 
triumphant  refutation  that  art  and  genius  have  deserted  the  operatic 
stage.  Having  now  obtained  the  legitimate  successor  of  Bosio,  Persi- 
ani, — we  were  about  to  add  (and  why  not1?)  Jenny  land, — why  may 
we  not  look  for  another  Pasta,  Malibran,  Catalani,  Iiubini,  Tam- 
burini,  Lablache?  Why  should  not  the  advent  of  Mile.  Patti  fill 
us  with  hope  for  the  fortunes  of  Italian  opera?  We  may  indulge 
imagination  so  far.  At  all  events,  we  have  experienced  a  new  sen- 
sation, and  that  is  something. 

(Yet  another  account,  which,  however,  did  not  appear  un- 
til much  later,  is  also  worthy  of  reproduction  here:  the  testi- 
mony of  Dr.  John  Cox,  an  old  and  experienced  habitue  of  the 
Opera.) 

On  Tuesday,  May  14,  a  "trump  card"  was  indeed  played  by  Mr. 
F.  Gye,  he  having  been  fortunate  enough  to  secure  to  himself  the 
services  of  Mile.  Adelina  Patti,  who  took  the  town  by  storm;  and 
no  marvel,  since  no  such  debut  had  been  witnessed  since  that  of 
Grisi  on  Easter  Tuesday,  1834.     As  I  had  been  fortunate  enough  to 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  401 

witness  the  former  event,  so  was  I  also  privileged  to  be  present 
at  the  latter,  and  in  each  instance  the  cases  seemed  to  be  very 
nearly  identical.  I  had  expected  nothing:  from  Grisi,  and  less 
perhaps — certainly  not  more — from  Mile.  Adelina  Patti. 

That  she  came  out  with  equal  powers  to  those  manifested  by  her 
great  predecessor  is  not  to  be  admitted.  She  had  not  the  ad- 
vantages of  the  same  training,  nor  was  her  voice  thoroughly  i'ormed ; 
but  the  singular  combination  of  youth  and  maturity  in  her  appear- 
ance could  not  fail  to  strike  every  beholder;  and  this,  being  added 
to  musical  qualities  already  singularly  high,  won  for  her,  on  the  in- 
stant, a  rapturous  welcome.  Her  voice — a  high  soprano,  well  in 
tune — reached  E  flat  in  alt  easily,  and  was  powerful  enough  for  any 
theatre.  It  was  then  more  flexible  than  fascinating.  The  latter 
quality  was  to  come,  as  it  has  done  most  abundantly.  Her  shake 
was  clear  and  brilliant;  but  she  seemed  to  prefer  staccato  flights 
and  ornaments,  which  were  more  extraordinary  than  agreeable  or  sat- 
isfactory to  a  well-trained  ear. 

As  an  actress,  Mile.  A.  Patti  was  composed  rather  than  sympa- 
thetic, although  as  to  the  part  in  which  she  appeared — Amina 
in  "La  Sonnambula" — she  had  abundant  opportunities  of  showing 
the  latter  quality.  What  she  did,  however,  was  elegant  and  un- 
affected, yet  not  always  appropriate :  for  instance,  throughout  her 
first  Sleep-Walking  Scene  she  soliloquised  in  full  voice  till  the  mo- 
ment when  the  weary  girl  lies  down  to  repose,  which  was  the  best 
part  of  her  performance.  It  was  doubted  at  the  time,  by  many  of 
those  best  competent  to  judge,  whether  another  first-class  artiste,  or 
one  who  might  become  so,  had  appeared;  but  time  has  proved  that 
she  was  deserving  of  recognition  in  the  former  capacity,  and  that 
she  has  maintained  and  improved  upon  that  position  to  the  present 
hour.1 

i  "Musical  Recollections."     London :     Tinsley  Bros.,  1872. 


APPENDIX  E 

FIRST  APPEARANCE  AS  LUCIA   AT  COVENT  GARDEN 

(From  the  Times,  May  27,  1861) 

MLLE.  ADELINA  PATTI  has  lost  none  of  her  laurels  by  her 
impersonation  of  Lucy  of  Lammermoor.  The  opera,  which 
is  generally  looked  upon  as  the  masterpiece  of  Donizetti,  was  given 
on  Saturday  night  before  the  largest  audience  probably  ever  as- 
sembled within  the  walls  of  the  new  theatre.  "All  the  world"— or, 
in  stricter  language,  all  the  musical  world — were  there,  and  the 
young  singer  had  to  brave  an  ordeal  before  which  the  most  ex- 
perienced artist  might  reasonably  have  quailed.  .  .  .  This  time  there 
was  no  question  about  ''youth  and  inexperience";  the  enormous 
audience  had  come  with  the  expectation  of  being  entertained  quand 
mime,  and  with  the  settled  belief  that  they  were  going  to  witness 
a  performance  of  the  highest  stamp.  .  .  . 

The  Lucia  of  Mile.  Patti  may  he  described,  mutato  nomine,  in 
pretty  nearly  the  same  terms  as  her  Amina.  It  combines  the  same 
engaging  beauties  with  the  same  inevitable  defects,  the  defects — 
as  in  the  first  instance — being  precisely  those  which  years  of  prac- 
tice must  be  devoted  to  surmount,  while  the  beauties  are  such  a3 
could  only  proceed  from  rare  natural  endowments  united  to  an  early 
quickness  of  apprehension  almost  unprecedented.  There  is  another 
recommendation,  moreover,  calculated  to  elicit  for  .Mile.  Patti  the 
especial  sympathy  of  those  who  admire  the  genuine  school  of  Italian 
opera.  Hfer  style  is  Italian,  her  pronunciation  of  the  words  U 
Italian,  her  delivery  of  the  voice  is  Italian,  her  method  of  execution 
is  Italian,  and,  in  short,  her  who!"  performance,  from  the  first  to  last, 
is  Italian — of  the  purest.  .  .  .  The  first  act  of  .Mile.  Patti's  Lucia  is 
the  least  striking;  though,  in  her  opening  scene  with  Alisa,  she  re- 
stores the  original  cavatina  in  place  of  the  so  frequently  inter- 
polated "Perche  non  ho,"  and  then  in  a  truly  artistic  spirit  sacri- 

402 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  403 

fices  a  means  of  ad  captandum  effect  out  of  deference  to  the 
original  intention  of  the  composer. 

Her  duet  with  the  Edgar  do  (Signor  Tiberini),  if  a  little  deficient 
in  warmth  of  expression,  offers  more  than  one  beautiful  point,  and 
with  respect  to  mere  execution  is  irreproachable.  That  with  Enrico 
(Signor  Graziani)  at  the  commencement  of  Act  II  affords  an- 
other proof  of  Mile.  Patti's  good  taste,  and,  it  may  be  added,  of 
her  uncommon  vocal  proficiency.  She  not  only  gives  the  first  move- 
ment in  the  proper  key,  but  sings  the  florid  passages  exactly  as  they 
were  written — which  very  few  representatives  of  Lucia  have  done 
since  the  opera  was  first  brought  out.  Here,  it  is  true,  as  in  the 
love  scene  with  Edgardo,  she  might  abandon  herself  more  freely 
to  the  dramatic  situation  and  exhibit  still  more  poignant  signs  of 
distress  at  the  exclamation  "Ahi  .  .  .  il  folgore  piombo,"  when  the 
forged  letter  has  persuaded  her  of  her  lover's  inconstancy;  but  the 
sequel  would  atone  for  much  graver  shortcomings. 

The  scene  of  the  signing  of  the  contract  and  the  unexpected  ar- 
rival of  Edgardo  are  done  to  perfection.  Mental  anguish  and  utter 
prostration  of  spirit  could  hardly  be  portrayed  with  intenser  earn- 
estness. That  Mile.  Patti  possesses  the  dramatic  instinct  as  well  as 
extraordinary  musical  talent  this  one  situation  is  quite  enough  to 
prove.  We  have  seen  it  represented  with  a  more  liberal  administra- 
tion of  the  shows  and  gestures  of  emotion,  but  never  with  more 
touching  and  unaffected  sentiment. 

The  crowning  triumph  of  the  young  singer — the  Lucy  of  eighteen 
summers — is  obtained  in  the  famous  Mad  Scene — one  of  those  strokes 
of  genius  with  which  the  too  careless  Donizetti  has  on  more  than 
one  occasion  redeemed  a  comparatively  feeble  opera.  Here,  as  in 
the  final  act  of  the  "Sonnambula,"  Mile.  Patti  puts  forth  all  her 
energy,  and  succeeds  in  riveting  attention  from  the  first  note  to 
the  last,  the  audience  being  gradually  wound  up  to  a  pitch  of  en- 
thusiasm. One  of  the  greatest  attractions  of  the  powerfully  worked- 
up  scene,  in  the  hands  of  Mile.  Patti — who  imitates  no  preceding 
mode  (being  too  young,  indeed,  to  have  profited  by  any) — is  its  en- 
tire and  abiding  freshness.  The  conception  is  as  original  as  the 
execution  is  brilliant,  and  the  one  as  strikingly  picturesque  as  the 
other  is  surprising. 


404  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

In  the  fioriture  with  which,  like  all  her  predecessors,  Mile.  Patti 
embellishes  the  already  sufficiently  elaborate  text,  the  same  pe- 
culiarities are  observable  as  in  her  version  of  "Ah,  non  giunge," 
and  the  slow  movement  that  precedes  it;  and  these  are  dealt  out 
even  in  greater  profusion,  if  not  absolutely  with  greater  effect.  The 
impression  produced — whatever  nice  objections  might  be  taken  here 
and  there — fairly  disarms  criticism. 

The  audience  on  Saturday  night,  as  though  delighted  at  being 
allowed  in  the  end  to  give  expression  to  their  pent-up  feelings,  broke 
forth  into  vehement  applause,  alike  from  boxes,  stalls,  and  gal- 
leries— applause  as  genuine  and  unanimous  as  we  can  remember, 
and  prolonged  until  the  new  favourite  had  come  forth  from  behind 
the  scenes,  an  eye-witness  to  the  sensation  she  had  created.  Even 
this  was  not  enough,  for  no  sooner  had  Edgarclo  given  up  the  ghost 
than  the  call  for  Signor  Tiberini,  promptly  responded  to,  was  fol- 
lowed by  another  for  Mile.  Patti,  kept  up  with  such  pertinacity 
that  the  young  lady  was  ultimately  induced  to  make  her  appear- 
ance with  her  toilette  only  half  achieved.  That  Mile.  Patti  has 
already  won  the  sympathy  of  the  English  public  is  unquestionable; 
to  make  her  conquest  good  depends  on  herself. 

(From  the  Athenceum,  June  1,  1861) 

Presently  it  may  come  to  be  proved  whether  the  new  singer 
is  available  in  the  better  and  more  unhackneyed  repertory  of  music 
by  Mozart,  Rossini,  and  Meyerbeer.  Meanwhile  Mile.  Patti  is  more 
intensely  the  fashion  than  any  singer  who  has  till  now  sung  at 
Covent  Garden.  .  .  .  "Lucia"  did  not  alter  our  impressions  of  Mile. 
Patti's  qualifications.  The  fatigue  of  her  voice  was  more  evident 
than  in  "Sonnambula."  Its  tones  were  frequently  not  agreeable — 
now  and  then  out  of  tune.  She  appeared  generally  disposed  to  get 
through  the  sustained  passages  of  the  part  for  the  sake  of  arriv- 
ing at  her  favourite  staccato  effects,  with  which  the  music  was 
garnished.  In  her  concerted  music  want  of  body  of  voice  was  to 
be  felt;  but  she  phrased  it  well;  a  broad  cadenza  in  the  recitative 
preceding  the  largo  of  the  mad  song  was  by  much  her  most  satis- 
factory and  artistic  display  of  the  whole  evening.  .  .  . 

The  cabaletta,  to  which  Mme.  Persian!  used  to  give  such  poignancy 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  405 

of  accent,  was  ineffective  because  hurried.  Respecting  Mile.  Patti's 
careful  training  there  cannot  be  two  opinions.  .  .  .  Her  acting  bore 
out  her  singing,  as  before.  Not  a  trace  of  nervousness  was  in  it; 
not  a  touch  of  inspiration  to  distinguish  her  from  every  Lucia 
who  has  gone  before  her.  It  was  pleasing,  though  conventional; 
least  conventional  in  the  contract  scene.  There  her  helpless,  girlish 
distress  after  the  "malediction"  and  her  appeal  to  everyone  in  turn 
for  pity  and  rescue,  were  pretty  and  pathetic.  She  was  tumultu- 
ously  applauded,  though  less  so  than  in  her  former  part.  Whether 
the  rapture  will  last  or  not  depends  on  herself. 


APPENDIX  F 

FIRST  APPEARANCE  OF  VIOLETTA  AT  COVENT 

GARDEN 

(From  the  Times,  July  5,  1861) 

LAST  night  Mile.  Adelina  Patti  appeared  in  "La  Traviata," 
which,  much  and  not  unreasonably  as  it  has  been  stigmatised 
by  moralists — as  much  and  perhaps  less  fairly  by  musicians;  often, 
too,  as  it  has  been  laid  aside  for  "used  up" — seems  to  imbibe  new 
life  whenever  there  is  a  new  singer  to  represent  the  heroine. 

Mile.  Piccolomini  wore  it  out ;  but  then  Mine.  Bosio  revived  it. 
Mile.  Piccolomini  again  did  it  to  deatli ;  hut  again  it  was  revived 
by  Mme.  Penco.  No  one,  indeed,  had  made  the  opera  "pay"  except 
Mile.  Piccolomini,  and  with  the  loss  of  Mile.  Piccolomini  it  was  be- 
lieved (hoped?)  that  the  London  public  would  also  have  to  put  up 
with  the  loss  of  Violetta — both  retiring  on  their  laurels.  Not  so, 
however.  The  success  achieved  by  Mile.  Patti  with  those  heroines 
of  impeachable  character,  Amino,  and  Lucy  of  Lammermoor,  was  so 
brilliant  that  not  to  have  allowed  her,  in  turn,  to  revive  the  Traviata 
would  have  been  outraging  a  precedent.  .  .  . 

Our  readers  need  be  under  no  apprehension;  we  are  not  going 
to  describe  the  Traviata;  .  .  .  our  opinion  of  the  opera  has  been 
stated  more  than  once;  and  if  another  Jenny  Lind  were  to  come 
forward  and  enchant  our  ears  with  the  sentimental  strains  of  "Ah! 
fors'  e  lui  che  l'anima,"  and  the  gay  divisions  of  its  cabaletta;  if  an- 
other Rachel  were  to  eke  out  the  horrors  of  the  Bedroom  Scene, 
with  twice  the  agonies  of  the  poisoned  Adrienne,  we  should  feel 
in  no  way  disposed  to  change  or  modify  it.  Nevertheless,  a  word 
Or  two  may  be  legitimately  bestowed  on  Mile.  Patti,  who,  though 
in  it  her  a  Lind  nor  a  Rachel,  is  something  so  genuine,  piquant,  orig- 
inal, and  attractive  that,  if  the  promise  of  her  extreme  youth  is  not 

406 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  407 

subsequently  belied  by  her  mature  achievement,  she  will  have  no 
reason  to  regret  being  anything  more  or  less  than  herself. 

Mile.  Patti's  Violetta,  as  an  artistic  display,  is  more  elaborately 
finished  than  any  previous  impersonation  of  the  character  we  remem- 
ber. As  a  piece  of  acting — if  we  accept  her  endeavour  to  soften 
down,  nay,  altogether  to  obliterate  whatever  under  any  circum- 
stances is  likely  to  offend  the  taste  or  shock  the  scruples  of  the 
most  reserved  spectator  as  legitimate — it  must  be  pronounced  con- 
summate. Mile.  Patti  represents  Violetta  as  one  who,  under  other 
conditions,  might  have  adorned  a  very  different  sphere  from  that  in 
which  she  is  unhappily  destined  to  move.  .  .  .  Her  gaiety  in  the 
earlier  scenes  is  continually  under  check.  Now  and  then  a  gesture, 
a  movement,  a  mere  look,  shows  plainly  that,  while  striving  to  brave 
it  out,  she  is  ashamed  of  and  really  detests  her  position ;  and  that 
even  the  idea  of  disinterested  love  for  Alfredo,  ultimately  leading  to 
redemption,  breaks  upon  her,  from  time  to  time,  as  an  illusion 
to  the  emptiness  of  which  she  becomes  thoroughly  alive. 

In  the  first  act,  the  interest  would  be  voted  rather  slow.  In 
the  second  act,  however,  the  interest  still  rises  with  the  situation, 
as  conceived  and  represented  by  the  actress.  Into  the  details  of 
the  lingering  death  we  shall  not  enter,  but  we  may  single  out  .  .  . 
the  duet  with  Alfredo  in  the  third  act,  "Parigi  o  cara,"  as  a  genuine 
triumph  of  expression  which,  had  Mile.  Patti  done  nothing  else  re- 
markable, would  have  fixed  her  performance  in  the  memory  of  the 
audience.  The  voice  —  to  use  a  not  infelicitous  conventional  term 
— is  sympathetic;  "the  manner  is  sympathetic";  and  if  the  method 
is  faulty,  that  is  more  than  condoned  by  the  extreme  youth  of  the 
executant  .  .  . 


APPENDIX  G 

THE  NEW  ZERLINA  AT  GRISPS  FAREWELL 

(From  the  Times,  July  8,  1861) 

THE  occasion  was  rendered  further  interesting  by  a  new  Zer- 
lina, and  such  a  Zerlina  as,  all  things  considered,  the  stage  has 
not  witnessed  for  many  years.  So  far,  indeed,  as  the  impersona- 
tion goes,  we  are  inclined  to  think  that  only  those  who  are  old 
enough  to  have  seen  Malibran  in  the  part  can  remember  anything 
to  match  it.  We  may  as  well  premise  the  music  has  been  rendered 
with  greater  finish  by  experienced  singers, — Persiani,  Alboni  and 
Bosio,  for  instance, — but  never  with  more  eminently  musical  expres- 
sion. The  audience  was  taken  at  once  by  the  youthful  appear- 
ance of  Mile.  Patti,  and  by  the  vivacity  of  her  "Giovinette  che 
fate."  .  .  .  With  "La  ci  darem"  they  were  thoroughly  charmed. 
The  hesitation  in  the  solo  of  Zerlina,  "Vorrei,  e  non  vorrei" ;  the 
archness  she  threw  into  the  line  "Ma  pu6  burlarmi  ancor" ;  and  the 
passing  thought,  while  still  her  mind  is  not  entirely  made  up,  be- 
stowed on  poor  Masetto,  "Mi  fa  pieta,"  were  one  and  all  perfect. 
The  encore  that  followed  was  unanimous. 

Still  more,  striking,  however,  was  "Batti,  batti" — a  little  drama 
in  itself.  Besides  being  exquisitely  sung,  the  by-play  by  which  Mile. 
Patti  accompanied  this  was  inimitable.  When  she  sang  "Batti,  batti, 
o  bel  Masetto,"  it  was  with  an  evident  conviction  that  were  Masetto 
a  thousand  times  as  jealous,  he  would  not  (could  not)  do  it  on  any 
account.  .  .  .  Receding  a  few  steps  away  from  Masetto  as  if  better 
to  satisfy  herself  of  her  victory,  and  then,  seeing  the  complete 
metamorphosis  her  endearments  have  achieved,  running  back  to  em- 
brace him  like  a  wayward  child — with  the  words  "Pacer  pace,  o 
vita  mia,"  the  whole  picture  is  filled  up,  the  sentiment  of  the  duet 
expressed  to  the  life,  and  just  as  complete  a  conquest  made  of  the 
audience  as  of  Masetto. 

408 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  409 

In  the  Ball  Scene  the  astonishment  of  the  peasant  girl  at  the 
grandeur  that  surrounds  her,  the  restraint  with  which  she  listens 
to  the  insinuating  advances  of  Don  Giovanni,  her  awkwardness  in 
the  dance,  and  many  other  happy  and  delicate  touches  show  that — 
like  her  incomparable  Masetto,  Signor  Ronconi — she  never  for  an 
instant  loses  sight  of  the  character  she  is  sustaining.  The  "Vedrai 
carino"  was  less  spontaneous,  less  finished,  too,  in  its  vocal  phras- 
ing, and  somewhat  damaged  at  the  end  by  a  trivial  ornament  which 
altered  the  text  of  Mozart  while  very  far  from  improving  it.  .  .  . 
But,  every  shortcoming  allowed  for,  Mile.  Patti's  Zerlina  was  a 
genuine  artistic  triumph,  and  made  an  unmistakable  impression  on 
the  most  crowded  house  of  the  season. 

(From  the  Musical  World,  July  13,  1861) 

The  performance  of  "Don  Giovanni"  derived  a  special  inter- 
est from  the  appearance  of  Mile.  Adelina  Patti  in  the  charac- 
ter of  Zerlina — the  happiest  of  her  efforts  and  the  greatest  of  her 
triumphs.  Mile.  Patti  is  gifted  by  nature  with  the  requisites  for 
succeeding  in  this  captivating  part.  In  her  pretty  peasant  attire 
she  was  all  a  painter  could  imagine  as  a  Spanish  country  girl;  her 
grace  and  simplicity,  and  the  very  sound  of  her  fresh,  youthful 
voice,  completing  the  illusion.  Her  acting  too  was  perfect.  She 
was  neither,  as  most  of  our  Zerlinas  are,  the  fine  lady  masquerading 
in  homely  garb,  nor  the  vulgar  hoyden,  according  to  Piccolomini's 
notion  of  the  character,  but  the  rustic  a  little  idealized,  such  as  we 
could  fancy,  though  we  have  never  seen  in  actual  life.  Everything 
she  did  was  so  entirely  the  result  of  impulse,  so  artless  and  un- 
premeditated, the  minutest  details  were  so  consistent  and  character- 
istic, as  to  leave  the  audience  convinced  that  nothing  less  than  an 
actress  of  nature's  own  making  was  before  them.  .  .  . 

Hitherto  she  has  shone  chiefly — though  by  no  means  exclusively — 
in  pieces  demanding  great  compass  of  voice,  brilliant  execution,  and 
variety  of  florid  embellishment.  The  music  of  Zerlina  neither  re- 
quires nor  admits  of  such  means  of  effect.  Yet  to  sing  it  according 
to  the  design  of  the  composer  is  the  severest  trial  to  which  the  vocal 
artist  can  be  exposed.  And  through  this  trial  our  young  prima 
donna  passed  triumphantly.  .  .  .  Mile.  Patti  showed  her  skill  in  the 


410  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

art  of  delivering  the  light,  rapid  parlante  recitative  of  the  Italian 
comic  stage — an  art  in  danger  of  being  lost,  now  that  this  kind  of 
musical  dialogue  is  going  out  of  use.  .  .  .  Zerlina' s  lively  prattle 
was  clear  and  intelligible  as  if  she  was  simply  talking  without  musi- 
cal notes  at  all.  We  do  know  what  has  been  Mile.  Patti's  musical 
education,  but  in  this  and  every  other  respect  it  has  evidently  been 
excellent. 

(From  letters  from  "An  American  in  London"  addressed  to 
Dwight's  Boston  Journal  of  Music,  August  3,  1861) 

But  the  chief  delight  and  admiration  of  the  audience  was  "little 
Patti"  as  the  clever  little  witch  and  coquette  of  a  peasant  bride, 
Zerlina.  And  justly  so.  It  was  the  most  charming  of  all  her 
charming  impersonations;  decidedly  the  most  fascmating  Zerlina, 
musically  and  dramatically,  I  have  seen  since  Bosio.  It  would  be 
folly  to  expect  in  her  the  perfect  singer  we  have  lost  in  Bosio;  yet 
she  sang  all  the  music  simply,  with  pure  style  and  expression,  and 
with  most  felicitous  and  characteristic  touches.  The  voice,  which 
we  had  feared  was  growing  old  too  fast  from  too  much  work  in 
public,  and  too  little  time  for  rest  and  private  study,  had  a  deli- 
cate, fresh  bloom  upon  it  that  was  delightful.  It  was  only  once, 
I  think,  that  she  indulged  in  an  unmeaning  cadenza  or  ''em- 
bellishment" on  Mozart's  perfect  melody ;  and  that  probably  was  the 
fault  of  some  adviser.  She  seldom  deviates  from  good  taste  and 
artistic  tnith  where  she  is  allowed  to  go  alone;  her  instinct  seems 
unerring.  In  recitative,  in  the  easy,  conversational  Italian  par- 
lando,  she  is  singularly  fine  for  such  a  child. 

Her  acting  of  the  part  was  full  of  life  and  nature,  amusingly 
original,  the  by-play  incessant,  and  helping  out  the  significance  of 
every  scene  in  which  she  was  on  the  stage.  For  instance,  the  won- 
der and  delight  with  which  she  (and  her  Masetto  with  her)  gazes 
round  on  the  splendors  of  Don  Juan's  ball-room,  and  the  timidity 
with  which  she  sinks  into  the  luxury  of  one  of  those  incredible 
chairs !  Best  of  all,  her  exquisite  coquetry  in  "Batti,  batti,"  with  her 
offended  simpleton  of  a  bridegroom.  Happy  for  her  hero  to  be 
so  exquisitely  mated !     Happy  for  the  public,  too. 


APPENDIX  H 

FIRST  APPEARANCE  AS  ROSIN  A  AT  CO  VENT  GARDEN 

(Letter  from  "An  American  in  London"  addressed  to 
Dwight's  Boston  Journal  of  Music,  October,  1861) 

THE  Rosina  was  Adelina  Patti,  whose  acting  of  the  part  was 
girl-like,  graceful,  pretty — a  Rosina  in  the  bud,  as  it  were — 
bright,  natural  and  well  conceived,  but  not  fully  charged  with  all 
the  espiegleries  which  a  riper  actress  finds  play  for  in  the  character. 
Musically  she  achieved  a  new  success  in  it,  although  liable  to  some 
deductions.  Her  voice  requires  transposition  of  much  of  the  music 
which  is  suited  to  a  low  mezzo-soprano.  But  the  more  serious  fault 
was  that  she  took  great  liberties  with  the  text,  embellishing  what  is 
originally  as  full  of  embellishment  as  it  well  can  be.  Even  if  the 
most  finished  artists,  like  Sontag,  Alboni,  Bosio,  may  be  allowed  to 
riot  sometimes  in  a  music  so  suggestive  of  the  mood,  it  was  hardly 
good  taste  for  so  young  a  singer  to  begin  with  variations  on  Rossini. 
Herein  Patti  had  been  unwisely  advised;  left  to  her  own  instincts, 
she  seems  seldom  to  err  against  good  taste  and  fitness.  This  part, 
of  course,  afforded  fine  play  for  those  bright  points  of  vocalization, 
those  staccato  sparkles  in  the  upper  octave,  etc.,  which  she  com- 
mands in  such  perfection  and  with  which  the  mass  of  an  audi- 
ence is  sure  to  be  delighted. 

Yet,  on  the  whole,  with  all  its  errors  and  shortcomings,  how  many 
more  fascinating  Rosinas  can  we  find?  Measured  by  the  maturest 
standard,  it  lacked  much ;  for  such  a  girl  it  was  wonderful.  In  some 
quarters  she  has  been  visited  by  a  too  severe  and  sweeping  criticism ; 
it  can  do  her  no  harm  if  it  saves  her  from  her  own  commonplaces — 
that  is  to  say,  from  too  frequent  trying  over  of  her  old  and  easy 
triumphs,  and  provokes  her  to  be  earnestly  true  to  herself,  still 
studying  what  intrinsically  is  fit  in  every  case,  and  still  a  learner. 

411 


412  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Xi itliing  is  more  fatal  to  the  real  progress  of  an  artist  than  to  keep 
pressing  certain  springs  (be  they  ever  so  ingenious  and  peculiarly 
her  own)  which  she  has  found  are  sure  to  "bring  the  house  down." 
But  Patti  has  it  in  her  to  be  much  more  than  a  mere  effect  singer,  a 
mere  vocal  virtuoso.  She  already  sings  with  character  and  feeling; 
she  will  do  more  and  more  so  if  she  is  not  injured  by  success. 


APPENDIX  H  (a) 

THE  ORNAMENTATION  OF  ROSSINI 

(From  the  Musical  World,  May  17,  1863) 

TBE  prominent  features  of  the  cast  [of  "II  Barbiere"]  were  the 
Almaviva  and  Rosina  of  Signor  Mario  and  Mile.  Adelina  Patti 
— the  most  experienced  tenor  and  the  most  unpractised  soprano; 
the  oldest  and  youngest,  indeed,  in  their  respective  departments,  on 
the  Italian  boards.  They  were  thoroughly  well  matched.  If,  while 
rivalling  her  accomplished  partner  in  the  grace,  brilliancy,  and  life- 
like naturalness  of  her  acting, — for  we  can  remember  no  more  fin- 
ished delineation  of  the  sprightly  ward  than  hers, — Mile.  Patti  would 
also  strive  to  follow  his  example  in  adhering  a  little  more  closely 
to  the  musical  text,  her  Rosina  would  be  absolute  perfection.  But  it 
is  vain  to  hope  for  this.  Mile.  Patti  may  cite  the  most  illustrious 
of  her  predecessors,  from  Malibran  and  Persiani  to  the  much  re- 
gretted Angelina  Bosio,  as  warrants  for  the  liberties  in  which  she 
herself  indulges.  "Una  voce  poco  fa"  and  "Dunque  io  son"  seem 
destined  to  be  perpetually  used  as  themes  for  the  exhibition  of  the 
singer's  skill  in  the  art  of  embroidery. 

True,  the  part  of  Rosina  was  originally  intended  for  a  contralto, 
and  this  in  a  great  measure  exonerates  sopranos  like  Bosio  and 
Mile.  Patti,  who  can  hardly  be  expected  to  sacrifice  their  chance  of 
applause  m  favour  of  what  would  at  the  best  be  a  correct  and  in- 
effective reading.  The  secret,  nevertheless,  is  how  to  reconcile  these 
elaborately  contrived  fioriture,  which  are  the  rhetoric  of  florid  song, 
with  the  real  character  of  the  music  thus  embellished — the  flowing 
melody  of  Rossini  with  all  its  glittering  display  of  ornament.  Once 
hit  upon  that  secret  and  objection  would  be  done. 


413 


APPENDIX  I 
CHARLES  DICKENS  ON  ADELINA  PATTI 
(From  All  the  Year  Round,  December,  1861) 

AND  now  has  come  the  youngest  Amino  of  all,  and  at  once,  with- 
out a  single  note  of  prelude  or  preliminary  trumpet,  has  stirred 
up  the  tired  town  to  an  enthusiasm  recalling  the  days  wben  Mali- 
bran  tottered  across  the  stage  in  haste  and  frantic  grief,  and  when 
Lind  breathed  out  her  whole  soul  of  sadness  over  the  flowers  as,  leaf 
by  leaf,  they  mournfully  dropped  on  the  stage.  Bom  in  Madrid, 
Italian  by  parentage,  trained  exclusively  in  America,  Mile.  Adelina 
Patti,  on  her  first  evening's  appearance  at  our  Italian  Opera — nay, 
in  her  first  song — possessed  herself  of  her  audience  with  a  sudden 
victory  which  has  scarcely  a  parallel.  Old  and  young  are  now 
treating  as  conspiracy  and  treason  any  looking  back  to  past  Aminas 
— any  comparison.  This  new  singer,  in  her  early  girlhood,  is  (for 
them)  already  a  perfect  artist — one  who  is  to  set  Europe  on  fire 
during  the  many  years  to  which  it  may  be  hoped  her  career  will 
extend. 

Nor  is  their  delight  altogether  baseless.  Mile.  Patti's  voice  has 
been  carefully  and  completely  trained.  Those  who  fail  to  find 
it  as  fresh  in  tone  as  a  voice  aged  nineteen  should  be,  must  be 
struck  by  its  compass,  by  the  certainty  of  its  delivery,  by  some 
quality  in  it  (not  to  be  reasoned  out  or  defined)  whiclr*  has  more 
of  the  artist  than  the  automaton.  She  has  a  rare  amount  of  bril- 
liancy and  flexibility.  She  has  some  "notions"  (as  the  Americans 
have  it)  of  ornament  and  fancy  which  are  her  own,  if  they  be  not 
unimpeachable,  say  the  dry-as-dusts,  in  point  of  taste. 

If  not  beautiful,  she  is  pleasing  to  see ;  if  not  a  Pasta,  a  Malibran, 
or  a  Lind  in  action,  she  is  possessed  with  her  story.  .  .  . 

For  the  moment  the  newest  Amina  has  the  ear  of  London.  In  the 
future  Mile.  Patti  may  become  worthy  of  having  her  name  written 

414 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  415 

in  the  golden  book  of  great  singers.  Meanwhile,  what  a  tale  is  here 
told,  not  merely  of  her  great  and  welcome  promise,  not  merely  of 
her  possessing  that  talent  for  success — charm — which  is  born  into 
few  persons  and  which  cannot  be  bought  or  taught,  but  of  the  lasting 
truth  and  attraction  of  the  music  to  which  Bellini  set  the  story  of 
the  innocent  girl  who  walked  across  the  mill-wheel  in  her  sleep ! 


APPENDIX  J 

FIRST  VISIT  TO  DUBLIN 

(From  the  Irish  Times,  December,  1861) 

THE  series  of  operas  which  Mile.  Patti  inaugurated  came  to  a 
close  with  "Martha"  on  Saturday  evening.  From  the  begin- 
ning the  young  prima  donna  has  had  a  succession  of  triumphs. 
Nothing  could  be  more  brilliant  than  the  talents  she  displayed,  and 
the  exhibition  of  the  rich  gifts  bestowed  on  her  by  nature  at  so  early 
a  period.  No  great  lyric  artist,  to  our  knowledge,  has  manifested 
so  large  a  share  of  histrionic  and  vocal  ability  in  mere  girlhood. 
Only  eighteen  years  old,  yet  singing  with  the  highest  culture,  the 
most  dazzling  brilliancy  and  finish  in  every  character,  and  acting 
with  the  tact  and  experience  of  one  who  had  trod  the  boards  for 
years;  and  possessing  the  fresh  charm  of  girlhood,  the  grace  of 
beauty,  and  the  buoyancy  of  youth.  Anyone  so  fitted  to  enrapture 
the  young,  please  the  mature,  and  gratify  the  experienced  in  art, 
we  have  never  witnessed  on  the  stage. 

She  sings  the  music  of  Rossini,  Mozart,  Verdi,  Donizetti,  and  Flo- 
tow  with  equal  truthfulness,  and  frequently  adorns  their  writings 
with  fioriture  appropriate  and  dazzling,  executed  with  an  ease  which 
astonishes.  If  she  has  a  fault  in  her  vocalism,  it  is  redundancy  of 
ornament,  and  too  frequent  a  recurrence  of  birdlike  staccati  pas- 
sages. 

The  part  of  Lady  Henrietta,  in  "Martha,"  is  particularly  suited  to 
Mile.  Patti.  Her  acting  is  tempered  by  good  taste,  and  the  tact  she 
displays  in  the  by-play  is  worthy  of  all  observation.  Then  her  sing- 
ing is  distinguished  by  a  truthful  adherence  to  the  text,  enriched 
by  ornamentation  in  keeping  with  the  various  themes,  and  softened 
by  an  expression  pure  and  natural.  To  speak  of  some  of  her  flights 
of  song  is  now  superfluous,  as  all  who  have  heard  them  must  have 

416 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  417 

been  equally  delighted  and  amazed.  This  latter  unique  portion  of 
vocal  art  she  exhibited  in  "The  Spinning  Wheel"  quartet.  In  the 
Italian  version  of  the  "Last  Rose  of  Summer"  she  evinced  a  purity 
of  style  never  excelled  by  any  of  her  predecessors,  while  she  put 
them  all  in  the  shade  by  her  rendering,  to  an  encore,  of  Moore's 
words  to  the  same  melody.  She  then  gave  "Home,  sweet  home," 
and  to  another  re-demand,  "  'Twas  within  a  mile  of  Edinboro'  town." 
The  Scotch  tune  she  sings  with  unspeakable  archness,  and  originality 
of  tone  and  manner  which  cannot  fail  to  charm. 

At  the  termination  she  was  greeted  with  acclamations,  and  left  the 
stage  laden  with  bouquets.  As  she  emerged  from  the  stage-door  to 
her  carriage,  she  was  met  bj'  a  cavalcade  of  the  students  of  Trinity 
College, — almost  all  honour  men, — who  took  the  horses  from  the  ve- 
hicle and  drew  her  to  the  hotel,  amidst  deafening  cheers.  And  thus 
ended  the  climax  to  one  of  the  most  triumphant  successes  within 
our  memories. 


APPENDIX  K 

FIRST   VISIT  TO  BRUSSELS 

(From  a  Brussels  paper,  February,  1862.     Translated  from 

the  French) 

IN  the  two  performances  of  "La  Sonnambula"  Mile.  Adelina  Patti 
surpassed  all  the  expectations  which,  with  good  reason,  had  been 
founded  on  her  extraordinary  merit  and  recent  reputation.  Mile. 
Patti  is  a  great  singer.  She  belongs  to  no  one  school  more  than 
another;  her  singing,  full  of  sympathy  and  feeling,  leaves  the  old 
beaten  paths  far  behind.  Her  style  is  peculiar  to  herself;  it  is  im- 
possible to  compare  it,  with  justice,  to  anything  ever  heard  before; 
she  resembles  no  one,  she  imitates  no  one;  she  is  Mile.  Patti!  Her 
certainty  of  execution,  the  delicacy  and  purity  apparent  in  all  she 
does,  and,  above  all,  the  irreproachable  correctness  of  the  whole 
register  of  her  voice,  which  is  of  incredible  compass,  render  her  an 
exception  among  the  artistic  celebrities  of  the  day. 

Her  prodigious  talent  astonishes,  surprises,  captivates ;  you  ap- 
plaud in  spite  of  yourself,  carried  away  by  an  irresistible  feeling 
of  admiration.  If  to  the  preceding  qualities,  which  border  on  the 
marvellous,  we  add  the  most  graceful  .appearance  that  ever  set  off 
a  young  girl;  beautiful  and  brilliant  black  eyes,  full  of  slyness  when 
they  are  not  full  of  tenderness  or  grief;  and  infantine  grace,  over- 
flowing with  charm  and  well-bred  ease,  and  a  genuine  histrionic 
talent,  delicate,  witty,  striking,  and  dramatic,  you  will  have  a  toler- 
ably complete  idea  of  this  fairy  of  eighteen  whose  name  is  Adelina 
Patti.  Her  success,  or,  as  we  prefer  saying,  in  order  to  be  nearer 
the  truth,  her  triumph,  was  immense. 


418 


APPENDIX  L 

RENTREE  AT  COVENT  GARDEN,  SECOND  SEASON 

(From  the  Musical  World,  May  10,  1862) 

NO  long-established  favourite  of  the  public  was  ever  re-welcomed 
with  greater  enthusiasm  than  Mile.  Adelina  Patti  on  Monday 
evening,  when  she  made  her  first  appearance  for  the  present  season 
in  the  opera  of  the  "Sonnambula."  It  was  in  the  character  of 
Amina  that  her  earliest  laurels  were  won,  and  few  can  have  forgot- 
ten the  extraordinary  sensation  produced  on  the  occasion  of  her 
debut.  Unheralded  by  preliminary  flourish,  she  took  the  audience 
by  storm;  and  a  name  that  was  previously  unknown  to  this  coun- 
try became  in  a  very  brief  period  familiar  as  a  household  word. 

The  brilliant  reception  of  Monday  night  gives  fair  reason  to  be- 
lieve that  the  interest  in  Mile.  Patti  will  be  maintained  this  season 
at  its  height.  What  was  written  on  the  occasion  of  her  first  per- 
formances might  be  repeated  almost  word  for  word,  and  apply  just 
as  well.  We  can  detect,  indeed,  but  little  difference.  Her  voice 
seems  to  have  gained  in  power,  and  her  singing  in  spontaneity.  But 
the  peculiarities  of  her  vocalisation — its  technical  defects  no  less 
than  its  indefinable  charm,  its  occasional  derelictions  from  severe 
purity  of  style  no  less  than  its  warmth  of  expression  and  engaging 
tenderness,  those  beauties  and  those  faults,  in  short,  which  make  up 
a  sum  total  as  irresistibly  captivating  as  it  is  unhackneyed — remain 
much  as  they  were  before. 

As  an  actress,  Mile.  Patti  has  made  a  decided  advance.  We  can 
recall  nothing  more  graceful,  nothing  more  impassioned,  than  the 
scene  of  the  bedchamber,  where  the  distracted  Amina  strives  in 
vain  to  persuade  Elvino  of  her  innocence.  Nor  do  we  remember  to 
have  seen  an  audience  more  thoroughly  moved  to  sympathy.  The 
fall  of  the  curtain  was  a  complete  triumph  for  Mile.  Patti,  who  was 
recalled  before  the  lamps,  to  be  literally  overwhelmed  with  applause. 

419 


APPENDIX  M 

FIRST  APPEARANCE  AS  DINORAH 
(From  the  Musical  World,  August  9,  1862) 

THE  Dinorah  of  Mile.  Patti  is  from  first  (o  la*t  an  entirely  new 
creation,  and,  moreover,  in  the  fullest  degree  as  captivating 
as  new.  It  is  not  merely  in  all  respects,  whether  regarded  in  a 
dramatic  or  in  a  vocal  sense,  the  best  Dinorah  we  remember,  but, 
viewed  as  a  whole,  the  only  Dinorah  entirely  realising  the  poetical 
conception  which  laid  so  strong  a  hold  upon  the  imagination  of 
Meyerbeer  as  to  inspire  "Le  Pardon  de  Ploermel,"  if  not  as  the 
most  brilliant  certainly  as  the  most  ethereal  of  his  masterpieces. 
Originality  has  been  universally  recognised  as  an  attribute  of  each 
successive  assumption  of  Mile.  Patti.  Whatever  may  be  her  short- 
comings, she  invariably  thinks  for  herself,  invariably  presents  the 
character  she  is  assuming  under  a  fresh  and  unhackneyed  aspect — 
the  mark  of  her  own  piquant  individuality  being  everywhere  appar- 
ent. This,  combined  with  youth,  a  prepossessing  appearance,  and 
a  natural  grace  that  enables  her  to  tread  the  stage  as  though  she 
had  been  "born  to  it,"  confers  upon  her  and  all  her  endeavours  a 
certain   indefinable  charm. 

The  attraction  thus  created,  and  which  gives  to  her  Zerlina,  her 
Ttosina,  and  one  or  two  other  impersonations,  the  peculiarities  so 
agreeably  distinguishing  them,  is,  perhaps,  nowhere  more  vivid — 
perhaps  nowhere  so  vivid — as  in  her  Dinorah,  the  most  elaborately 
studied,  the  most  carefully  wrought  out,  and,  at  the  same  time,  so 
successfully  are  the  mechanical  means  kept  out  of  sight,  the  most 
apparently  spontaneous  of  her  performances. 


420 


APPENDIX  N 

FIRST  VISIT  TO  VIENNA 

(Letter  from  Dr.  Julius  Wagner,  of  Vienna,  to  the  Musical 
World,  dated  March  17,  1863) 

THE  great  reputation  which  little  Adelina  Patti  has  achieved 
in  two  quarters  of  the  globe  is  not  unmerited.  Such  was  the 
general  opinion  after  Vienna  had  heard  her.  Now,  people  in  Vienna 
are  not  prejudiced  in  anyone's  favour;  they  must  be  convinced,  de- 
lighted, charmed,  before  going  into  such  raptures  as  they  indulged 
in  with  Adelina  Patti.  Adelina  Patti,  however,  has  in  her  service 
a  herald  who  awakens  a  favourable  feeling  toward  her;  this  is  her 
beauty.  Yet  no;  beauty  is  not  the  proper  expression.  Mile.  Patti 
is,  above  all,  an  original  and  peculiar  being;  she  is  to  so  great  a 
degree  herself  alone,  and  possesses  so  little  in  common  with  any 
member  of  the  grand  army  of  fair  mediocre  singers — of  the  so- 
called  celebrated  cantatrice  and  travelling  virtuosas — that  she  cannot 
be  described  in  general  terms.  Mile.  Patti  appeared,  and  a  storm 
of  applause  burst  forth ;  applause  in  which  so  many,  who  were 
thoroughly  roused  by  the  exterior  of  the  little,  dainty,  graceful  girl, 
took  part. 

It  is  the  charm  of  the  girl,  nay,  of  the  child,  which  produces  so 
refreshing  an  effect  when  she  appears.  It  is  spring;  morning; 
dew;  the  first  ray  of  the  sun;  the  perfume  of  the  rose  that  has 
blown  during  the  night;  which  causes  the  faces  of  all  the  audience 
to  brighten  up.  The  head  of  a  child  upon  the  symmetrically  formed 
and  charming  body  of  a  young  girl,  such  is  Adelina  Patti.  A  deli- 
cately chiselled  head,  with  fine  mobile  features,  and  the  guileless  eyes 
of  a  doe — white  marble  turned  into  flesh,  surrounded  by  a  dark 
frame  of  hair,  and  daintily  intersected  by  black  brows,  eyes,  and 
lashes:  such  is  Adelina  Patti.  A  mignon  head  upon  a  delicate  but 
beautifully  robust  and  healthy  body.     A  head  of  fourteen  upon  a 

421 


422  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

bust,  of  eighteen.  Small,  dainty,  and  delicate  is  the  sphere  over 
which  the  individuality  of  Adelina  Patti  exerts  its  sway.  Her  move- 
ments, her  smile,  her  joy,  her  seriousness,  her  grief,  her  suffering, 
are  all  set  in  a  small  ring,  but  so  naturally,  so  harmoniously,  so 
completely,  so  onefully,  as  to  produce  a  pure,  full  impression. 

There  is  nothing  striking  and  grand;  no  lightning,  no  thunder- 
claps, no  demoniacal  passion,  and  no  ecstatic  cry  of  joy,  belonging 
to  Adelina  Patti ;  it  is  a  maiden  in  her  spring ;  spring  in  art,  which 
we  see  in  Adelina  Patti :  it  is,  moreover,  the  spring  of  the  South, 
which  bids  even  the  violets  burst  forth  in  their  maturity.  The  form 
of  Mile.  Patti  bears  the  colour  and  features  of  the  southern  or 
Oriental  spring.  The  way  she  treads  the  uncertain  boards  of  the 
theatre  produces  the  impression  of  a  somnambulist  boldly  advancing, 
secure  and  steady,  toward  her  goal,  without  a  consciousness  of  the 
dangers  that  menace  her.  She  has  not  merely  the  charm,  but  also 
the  courage  and  pleasing  audacity,  of  a  child. 

Thus  does  she  comport  herself;  thus  does  she  act;  thus  does  she 
sing.  Fresh  as  is  her  demeanour,  her  voice  is  equally  so.  The  latter 
sounds  like  a  bell,  just  bright  out  of  the  mould.  The  hearer  cannot 
determine  the  question — is  her  voice  great?  is  it  powerful?  it  is  so 
entrancingly  fresh.  The  hearer  cannot  ask  himself,  is  Mile.  Patti 
a  great  singer?  for  she  overcomes  the  greatest  difficulties  with  child- 
like facility.  The  hearer  cannot  ask  himself,  is  Mile.  Patti  well 
trained?  for  he  believes  that  what  she  can  do  now  she  could  always 
do. 

She  sings  with  taste  and  grace;  she  allows  the  pearls  of  her  voice 
to  flow  on  their  course;  she  wails  like  a  nightingale;  she  warbles 
like  a  lark;  she  twitters  the  highest  and  sharpest  tones,  swelling 
upwards  from  the  fundamental  notes  of  the  lower  register  like — 
but  similes  must  here  cease;  what  she  effects  can  be  effected  only 
by  a  bird  turned  into  a  human  being.  Indeed,  Mile.  Patti  pro- 
duces the  impression  of  having  a  bird  nestling  in  her  breast.  She 
sings  like  a  bird  and  like  nothing  else;  pleasing  repose  in  her  body, 
tune  and  warbling  in  her  throat.  We  have  heard  singers  possessed 
of  more  boldness  and  virtuosity  than  Mile.  Patti,  but  this  singing 
child  is  a  charming  individuality,  with  which  no  other  is  to  be  com- 
pared.    This  is  her  value;  this  is  her  especial  charm. 


APPENDIX  O 

ADELINA  PATH  AS  DINORAH 

(From  "Die  Moderne  Oper,"  by  Eduard  Hanslick.     Trans- 
lated from  the  German.) 

I  CANNOT  conclude  these  observations  upon  Meyerbeer's  Dinorah 
without  calling1  to  mind  the  extraordinary  performance  of  Ade- 
lina  Patti  in  the  title-role — one  of  the  most  remarkable  leaves  in  the 
Sibylline  book  of  the  variations  between  creative  and  executive 
musical  art.  In  point  of  fact,  I  thank  Patti  for  a  most  peculiar 
and  vivid  impression  of  an  opera  which  until  then  was  unsympa- 
thetic to  me.  Neither  the  marvellous  technique  nor  the  wealth  of 
elegant  spirituel  detail  in  this  score  of  Meyerbeer's  reconciles  one  to 
the  morbidly  refined  music  nor  to  the  nonsensical,  uninteresting  ac- 
tion. Even  to-day  I  cannot  depart  from  this  view,  for  naturally 
the  charm  of  a  genial  interpretation  goes  as  little  to  the  composer's 
credit  as  the  blame  for  an  unintellectual  one. 

Call  it  Meyerbeer's  misfortune  or  his  fault,  as  you  will,  that  he 
needed  an  exceptional  personality  for  the  success  of  Dinorah — it 
remains  none  the  less  a  combination  of  luck  and  merit  brought  about 
through  the  personality  of  Adelina  Patti.  One  could  swear  that 
the  part,  note  for  note,  was  written  for  her.  ...  In  its  poetic  aspect, 
even,  Dinorah  bespeaks  Patti's  individuality.  There  is  something 
poetical  in  the  figure  of  the  young  shepherdess,  an  elemental  charm, 
which  comes  to  light  when  a  kindred  nature  awakens  it.  Such  ele- 
mental charm  stirs  in  the  bright,  fresh  voice  of  Patti,  in  her  man- 
ner of  singing  and  acting,  in  her  whole  demeanour.  She  instinctively 
reveals  whatever  natural  poetry  or  genuine  feeling  may  slumber  in 
Dinorah,  and  thus  renders  sympathetic  a  character  which  others,  by 
their  coquettish  and  blase  conception  generally  make  just  the  oppo- 
site. Even  more  than  as  poet  has  the  composer  here  worked  before- 
hand for  Patti.     As  though  he  had  in  mind  during  the  whole  time 

425 


424  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

the  loveliest  tones,  the  peculiar  timbres  and  modulations  that  this 
singer  possesses — thus  and  not  otherwise  did  he  compose  his  "Di- 
norah." 

On  her  first  entry  Patti's  movements  are  all  replete  with  un- 
affected grace  and  naturalness.  She  depicts  Dinorah's  madness 
with  a  touch  of  dreamy  distraction  which  bursts  as  readily  into 
merriment  as  into  sadness.  For  bizarre  or  profound  ideas,  for 
carefully  studied  nuances,  one  must  seek  as  little  in  this  as  in  any 
other  of  her  roles.  She  achieves  the  right  thing,  not  through  re- 
flection, but  through  her  wonderful  instinct.  What  could  be 
smoother,  more  delightful,  than  her  sweetness  and  the  impeccable 
intonation  of  her  expressive  swelling  tones  in,  for  instance,  the 
"Slumber  Song"? 

That  it  should  be  so  hard  to  describe  music,  so  impossible  to  por- 
tray absolute  beauty  of  sound !  Only  he  who  has  no  notion  of  the 
power  and  nobility  of  this  sensuous  beauty  in  music  can  ask  how  one 
can  contrive  to  listen  with  pleasure  to  insignificant  and  undramatic 
roles  when  Patti  sings  them !  Note  the  difference  between  a  com- 
monplace phrase  played  by  an  ordinary  fiddler  and  rendered  by  a 
Joachim  or  a  Wilhelmj  upon  his  Stradivarius.  Yet  an  exceptionally 
beautiful  voice  is  much  lovelier,  much  more  individual,  than  the 
costliest  Stradivarius;  it  exists  only  once  in  the  world. 

When  she  goes  into  Corentino's  hut,  Patti  concludes  her  imitation 
of  the  clarinet  figure  with  a  cadenza  (written  for  her  by  Meyerbeer) 
that  rises  to  the  E  in  alt  and  thence  seems  to  descend  in  a  thousand 
glittering  sparks.  In  the  succeeding  duet  Patti  executes  her  bril- 
liant bravura  passages  with  the  highest  art  and  the  most  astounding 
virtuosity.  Decidedly  they  do  not  sound  in  the  least  like  a  concert 
piece,  but  rather  the  natural  improvised  accompaniment  to  the  jokes 
which  Dinorah,  with  much  dancing  and  teasing,  plays  upon  the  poor 
bagpiper.  The  first  act  ends  with  the  delicious  "Bell  Trio";  and  he 
alone  knows  it  properly  who  has  heard  Patti  sing  it. 

The  "Shadow  Song"  of  the  second  act  is  the  show-piece  of  every 
famous  coloratur  soprano,  but  I  do  not  believe  that,  quite  apart  from 
Patti's  graceful  acting  and  natural  sweetness  of  expression,  there 
is  another  who  can  sing  the  first  two  bars  as  she  does;  nothing 
slurred  or  blurred,  but,  together  with  the   most   beautiful   legato, 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  425 

every  semiquaver  ("eighth  note")  as  though  chiselled  out  of  marble. 
.  .  .  Then  the  legend  of  the  buried  treasure,  with  its  three  notes, 
E,  F,  G,  in  the  major  key — only  three  notes,  but  the  loveliest  that 
haunt  our  memory,  for  here  Patti's  vocal  art  works  with  the  magic 
of  a  natural  spell.  Again,  the  closing  trio,  which  she  elevates  both 
musically  and  dramatically  to  the  highest  plane.  And,  finally,  the 
duet  with  Hoel  in  the  last  act,  wherein  she  depicts  with  such  ex- 
quisite feeling  Dinorah's  return  to  consciousness  and  memory,  and, 
after  the  actual  climax  of  her  role,  can  still  adorn  so  wonder- 
fully  

Beyond  doubt,  nature  only  when  in  rarest  holiday  mood  brings 
forth  such  a  musical  phenomenon  as  this  little  Italian  girl.  Adelina 
Patti  must  be  designated  the  greatest  of  living  singers;  it  would 
almost  appear  as  though  she  will  remain  the  last  great  singer  who, 
after  being  reared  in  the  severe  school  of  Rossinian  virtuosity  and 
Bellinian  belcanto,  and  there  equipped  for  the  highest  achievements 
of  Italian  vocal  art,  yet  ultimately  turned  to  the  performance  of 
modern  dramatic  tasks. 


APPENDIX  P 

FIRST  APPEARANCE  AS  LEONORA 
(From  the  Morning  Post,  May  29,  1863) 

MLLE.  ADELINA  PATTI  has  fairly  astonished  even  the  most 
devout  believers  in  her  genius  by  a  really  inagni6cent  per- 
formance of  Leonora  in  "II  Trovatore."  We  could  not  have  sup- 
posed that  the  charming,  piquant  little  representative  of  the  simple 
peasant  girl  Amino,  the  lively,  tormenting  bride  of  Don  Pasquale, 
the  sly  and  humorous  ward  of  Don  Bartolo,  or  the  naive  Zerlina 
could  have  shone  so  brilliantly  as  she  did  last  night  in  high  lyric 
tragedy.  But  who  can  measure  the  capacity  of  youthful  genius? 
Who  can  reason  with  mathematical  exactness  from  what  is  to  what 
may  be  when  a  new  spiritual  manifestation,  glowing  and  fresh  in 
the  springtide  of  feeling,  appears  before  us?  What  will  come  next, 
and  next?  as  the  poetical  Mr.  Cobden  would  say.  A  new  chord  is 
struck,  a  thousand  hitherto  unawakened  emotions  are  set  in  sympa- 
thetic vibration,  and  all  that  is  left  for  the  reasoning  observer  is 
the  statement  that  he  is  astonished.  Prosaic  admission!  But  so  it 
must  be  until  critics  become  prophets. 

That  Mile.  Patti  would  sing  the  cavatina,  "Tacea  la  notte"  with 
wondrous  brilliancy  and  effect  was,  of  course,  generally  expected. 
We,  among  others,  felt  quite  sure  that  this  piece  of  florid  executancy 
would  be  a  triumph  in  its  way ;  but  it  was  in  the  subsequent  portions 
of  the  opera,  where  grand  tragic  power  and  intensity  of  feeling  are 
required,  that  Mile.  Patti  completely  surprised  us.  Her  scenes  with 
Count  di  Luna  and  Manrico,  for  instance,  in  the  last  act  were  given 
with  the  inspiration  and  abandon  of  true  genius.  The  little  girl 
"broke  out  like  a  fire,"  kindling  sympathetic  warmth  in  the  very 
hearts  of  the  audience.  To  say  that  she  was  well  supported  by 
Signor  Mario  would  be  a  very  cold  and  inadequate  expression  of 
the  deep  impression  which  that  transcendent  artist  has  left  upon 
our  mind  by  his  performance  of  Manrico  last  night. 

426 


APPENDIX  Q 

CARLOTTA  PATH 

(From  the  Musical  World,  April  18,  1863) 

CARLOTTA  PATTI  came  into  the  world  under  an  Italian  sky, 
that  sky  whose  influence  seems  so  potent  to  implant  at  once 
the  deepest  passion  for  art  and  to  mould  the  faculties  expressly  for 
its  highest  achievements.  In  1840  her  mother,  Mine.  Patti,  was  ful- 
filling an  engagement  as  prima  donna  at  the  Pergola  Theatre  in 
Florence,  and  in  that  year,  and  in  this  selfsame  city,  gave  birth 
to  the  infant  whose  career  now  occupies  our  attention.  .  .  .  The 
musical  aptitude  which  so  remarkably  characterised  the  members  of 
the  Patti  family  early  manifested  itself  in  Carlotta;  but  her  incli- 
nation was  in  the  first  instance  toward  instrumental  music  rather 
than  vocal,  and,  studying  under  the  direction  and  tuition  of  the 
celebrated  Henri  Herz,  she  attained  a  high  degree  of  proficiency 
as  a  pianiste. 

So  thoroughly  was  art  the  very  animating  breath  of  this  child 
of  Italy  that,  simultaneously  with  her  rapid  progress  in  musical 
studies,  she  evinced  a  marked  faculty  for  the  sister  art  of  painting, 
which  she  cultivated  with  signal  success.  When  her  sister  Clotilda 
(who  had  married  Signor  Scola),  having  fallen  into  ill  health,  was 
ordered  to  sojourn  in  South  America,  Carlotta  left  New  York  with 
her,  to  tend  and  watch  over  her  during  her  illness.  Not  all  the 
assiduous  care  of  a  devoted  and  affectionate  sister  could  preserve 
Mine.  Scola  from  her  doom.  She  lingered  a  few  years,  and  died, 
nursed  and  solaced  to  the  last  by  the  tender  attention  of  the  faithful 
Carlotta.  When  the  last  scene  was  over,  the  gentle-hearted  sister 
returned  with  saddened  spirit  to  New  York,  where  she  found  her 
youngest  sister  Adelina  just  commencing  the  vocal  studies  of  which 
we  have  witnessed  the  brilliant  fruits.  To  these  she  associated  her- 
self with  ardour  and  energy,  and  with  such  fiery  mettle  did  she  enter 

427 


428  THE  REIGN  OP  PATTI 

upon  the  course  that  her  curriculum  was  swept  through  in  the  brief 
space  of  one  year,  at  the  end  of  which  she  was  pronounced  one  of 
the  most  accomplished  vocalists  in  America. 

Mile.  Carlotta  Patti's  first  appearance  as  a  public  singer  was  in 
New  York,  in  January,  1861.  Her  success  was  complete  and  de- 
cisive,  and  the  ever-watchful  and  sagacious  entrepreneur  of  trans- 
atlantic renown,  Mr.  Ulmann,  at  once  engaged  the  triumphant  young 
debutante  for  the  grand  concerts  at  the  Academy  of  Music  in  that 
city.  From  that  time  her  reputation  became  established,  and  has 
maintained  itself  with  regular  and  steady  accession  to  its  rank  and 
degree  till  it  has  reached  its  present  commanding  eminence.  One 
after  the  other,  the  principal  cities  of  the  United  States  hailed  the 
advent  of  the  newly  found  treasure  with  eager  expectation,  mingled, 
of  course,  with  the  usual  amount  of  scepticism  when  a  new  reputa- 
tion has  to  be  tested,  and  one  by  one  each  ratified  the  verdict  of 
New  York,  and  crowned  the  brow  of  the  young  artist  with  fresh 
laurels. 

Upon  the  outbreak  of  the  struggle  between  the  Northern  and 
Southern  States,  Mile.  Carlotta  Patti  was  driven,  as  it  were,  into  a 
new  field  of  victory,  into  which,  but  for  the  fortune  of  war,  she 
might  never  have  ventured,  and  the  records  of  operatic  art  would 
have  lost  one  of  its  brightest  names.  The  opera  house  is  about  the 
exact  opposite  of  a  Temple  of  Janus,  and  when  war  is  raging  its 
doors  have  an  almost  irresistible  tendency  to  remain  closed  instead  of 
open.  Such,  in  truth,  was  the  experience  of  the  manager  of  the 
New  York  opera,  to  whom  the  war  proposed  this  puzzling  alterna- 
tive: either  find  a  singer  who  shall  eclipse  all  that  we  have  any 
memory  of,  or  give  up  the  game  as  lost — in  the  American  vernacu- 
lar, "cave  in." 

With  singular  shrewdness  the  management  bethought  itself  of  the 
only  solution  to  the  difficulty,  which  was  to  prevail  on  Mile.  Carlotta 
Patti,  by  a  strong  appeal  to  her  compassion,  to  cast  away  her  long- 
cherished  reluctance  to  appear  upon  the  stage.1     With  equal  cour- 

1  On  account  of  her  lameness,  which,  as  will  be  seen,  this  writer  at- 
tributes in  the  first  instance  to  an  accident,  not  to  a  congenital  cause. 
The  article  is  quoted  here,  however,  as  a  curious  and  characteristic 
example  of  American  "press-agent"  work  in  the  sixties.  Xo  one  on  the 
staff  of  the  old  Musical  World  could  possibly  have  written  it. — H.  K. 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  429 

age  and  kindness  of  heart,  which  do  her  infinite  credit,  Mile.  Car- 
lotta  Patti  yielded  to  their  pressing  solicitations  and  consented  to 
sacrifice  her  own  feelings — feelings  springing  from  a  source  of  such 
delicate  sensibility  as  must  have  cost  no  small  effort  to  counteract — 
for  the  benefit  of  her  early  patrons.  .  .  .  The  cause  of  this  un- 
willingness to  appear  on  the  stage  must  be  stated  ere  the  struggle 
to  overcome  it  can  be  fully  appreciated.  When  a  child  Carlotta 
met  with  an  accident  by  which  the  muscles  of  one  ankle  were  so 
much  injured  as  never  to  have  completely  recovered  their  perfect 
action,  and  the  effects  of  this  accident  are  still  to  a  certain  extent 
noticeable  in  her  gait.  .  .  . 

The  engagement  of  Mile.  C.  Patti,  during  which  she  appeared  in 
the  same  round  of  characters  as  those  in  which  her  sister  Adelina 
had  won  distinction  (in  "Lucia,"  "La  Sonnambula,"  "Puritani,"  and 
"Martha"),  once  more  attracted  the  public  to  the  Academy  of  Music, 
and  the  fortunes  of  that  establishment  were  restored  to  a  flourish- 
ing condition.  It  need  hardly  be  said  that  whatever  trace  the  phys- 
ical defect  to  which  we  have  alluded  may  have  left,  it  was  only  in 
the  susceptible  imagination  of  the  artist  that  they  could  operate 
as  a  drawback  to  her  appearance  on  the  stage;  for  her  presence 
is,  on  the  contrary,  remarkably  elegant  and  pleasing,  and  even  had 
the  case  been  otherwise,  her  brilliant  vocalisation  would  have  cov- 
ered every  disadvantage  with  a  mantle  of  dazzling  glory. 


APPENDIX  R 

THE  PATTI  FAMILY 

(Extract  from  a  letter  written  by  Louis  Moreau  Gottschalk, 
June  15,  1863,  to  L'Art  Musical) 

1  PLAYED  this  evening  before  a  tolerably  numerous  audience, 
who  listened  to  me  with  marked  kindness  and  a  degree  of  atten- 
tion which  I  do  not  always  meet  from  the  audiences  of  small  towns. 
My  piece,  "L'Union,"  was  greatly  applauded,  being  written  for  the 
present  state  of  affairs. 

Madame  Strakosch  also  (sister  of  Adelina  Palti  and  wife  of 
Maurice  Strakosch)  was  greatly  applauded.  She  possesses  a  very 
agreeable  contralto,  a  sympathetic  appearance,  and  a  popular  name, 
three  conditions  of  success,  enhanced  in  her  case  by  the  most  dis- 
tinguished manners  and  by  a  course  of  life  in  private  against  which 
calumny  has  never  been  able  to  say  a  word. 

This  Patti  family  is  truly  a  dynasty  of  distinguished  singers. 
The  father,  Salvatore  Patti,  was  still,  some  twenty  years  ago,  an 
excellent  tenor  di  forza.  His  wife  (the  mother  of  Adelina)  was  a 
h'ery  lyrical  tragic  actress,  whose  name  of  Barili  (for  her  first  hus- 
band was  Signor  Barili)  is  still  celebrated  in  Portugal,  in  Spain, 
and  at  Naples,  where  she  achieved  some  great  triumphs.  .  .  .  Her 
eldest  daughter,  Clotilde  Barili  (who  died  four  or  five  years  ago), 
was  eminently  successful  at  New  York,  and  in  all  Spanish  America, 
especially  at  Lima  and  San  Francisco.  Her  sons,  Ettore  Barili, 
a  distinguished  baritone;  Antonio,  basso  profondo;  and  Nicolo 
Barili,  basse  chantante,  bravely  support  the  family  name. 

The  children  of  the  second  (Patti)  marriage  are:  Amalia  Patti, 
married  to  Maurice  Strakosch,  a  distinguished  pianist,  whose  com- 
positions deserve  to  be  better  known ;  Carlotta,  whose  extraordinary 
voice  and  marvellous  flexibility  have  fanaticised  the  United  States, 

430 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  431 

and  been  a  second  edition  of  the  enthusiasm  excited  there  by  Ade- 
lina.  After  Carlotta  come  Carlo  and  Adelina.  As  for  the  latter, 
all  Europe  already  knows  her.  With  regard  to  Carlo,  he  is  a  hand- 
some fellow,  with  something  of  the  Bohemian  about  him,  whom  a 
spirit  of  adventure  took  to  California  and  Mexico  (where  be  played 
the  violin  with  remarkable  ability) ;  to  New  York,  where  he  sang, 
married,  and  got  divorced  (he  was  seventeen  years  of  age) ;  to 
Memphis,  where,  after  being  the  hero  of  certain  love  affairs,  he' 
married  again,  it  is  said,  enlisted  in  the  Southern  army,  got  ap- 
pointed conductor  of  one  of  the  bands,  was  killed  and  resuscitated 
in  several  official  bulletins,  and  is  at  present  enjoying  the  health  the 
Pattis  usually  enjoy,  for,  among  other  enviable  privileges,  they  have 
the  privilege  of  never  being  ill.  What  a  family!  Do  you  know 
many  others  in  art  whose  quarterings  of  nobility  are  better  than 
those  I  have  just  enumerated? 

L.  M.  GOTTSCHAIiK. 


APPENDIX  S 

ADELINA  PATH'S  FIRST  APPEARANCE  AS  MARGUERITE 

(From  the  Daily  Telegraph,  June  8,  1864) 

MLLE.  PATTI  appeared  last  night  for  the  first  time  in  Eng- 
land in  M.  Gounod's  "Faust,"  and  achieved  a  most  extraor- 
dinary success.  She  not  only  surpassed  every  other  representative 
of  the  character,  but,  what  is  still  more  wonderful,  she  surpassed 
herself.  Never,  probably,  has  so  marvellous  a  display  of  genius  been 
witnessed  on  the  lyric  stage  as  the  performance  of  this  gifted  lady 
in  the  celebrated  Garden  Scene.  Her  singing,  from  the  first  note 
to  the  last,  left  absolutely  nothing  to  be  wished  for,  while  her  acting 
was  so  crowded  with  inspiration  that  it  seems  as  impossible  a  task 
to  describe  it  in  cold  and  insufficient  words  as  it  would  be  to  fix  the 
changing  colors  of  a  rainbow.  Now,  at  all  events,  any  such  at- 
tempt would  be  hopeless.  .  .  . 

Certain  that  Mile.  Patti  would  sing  the  music  of  M.  Gounod  as 
she  sings  that  of  every  other  composer,  with  irreproachable  skill, 
refinement,  and  expression,  we  yet  felt  some  doubt  if  she  could  so 
subdue  her  Southern  vivacity  as  to  qualify  her  for  the  due  pre- 
sentment of  the  tender,  dreaming  girl  whom  Goethe's  genius  has 
established  as  the  ideal  type  of  Northern  sentiment.  That  doubt 
she  last  night  soon  dispelled.  The  vision  with  which  the  arch-fiend 
tempts  Faust  to  sell  his  soul  showed  the  young  Italian  lady  trans- 
formed into  a  veritable  Gretchen.  The  normal  expression  of  Mile. 
Patti's  features  was  modified  by  flaxen  hair,  the  brilliant  blackness 
of  her  eyes  was  subdued  by  blond  brows.  Her  first  spoken  words 
betokened  as  complete  transformation  of  feeling.  Nothing  could 
be  more  artistic  and  natural  than  the  demeanour  of  the  new  Mar- 
gherita  when  first  accosted  by  Faust;  after  one  rapid  glance  she 

432 


THE  EEIGN  OF  PATTI  433 

turns  aside,  and,  with  exquisite  simplicity,  lets  fall  the  melodious 
phrase  wedded  forever  by  Gounod  to  the  oft-quoted  lines : 

Bin  weder  Fraulein  weder  schon 

as  she  resumes  her  homeward  way. 

But  the  test  of  a  Jtlargherita's  capabilities  is,  of  course,  in  the 
third  act,  and  in  this  Mile.  Patti  is  beyond  rivalry.  That  the  Jewel 
Song  was  perfectly  executed,  the  concluding  shake  brilliantly  articu- 
lated, and  the  air  encored,  it  is  almost  needless  to  say;  but  we  may 
observe  that  the  increase  of  power  in  Mile.  Patti's  lower  tones  en- 
ables her  to  give  unusual  effect  to  the  conclusion  of  the  duet — that 
the  short  episode  descrij)tive  of  the  death  of  Gretchen's  little  sister 
was  rendered  with  heartfelt  pathos — and,  in  fine,  that  every  phrase 
of  the  loveliest  love-music  ever  penned  received  from  the  young 
lady's  exquisite  taste  and  deep  feeling  new  significance  and  fresh 
beauty. 

But,  apart  from  all  purely  musical  considerations,  the  mere  act- 
ing of  Mile.  Patti  in  this  scene  would  suffice  to  rivet  the  attention 
even  of  one  who  was  deaf  to  the  "concord  of  sweet  sounds."  .  .  . 
She  seemed  as  though  possessed  by  some  irresistible  spell,  against 
which  it  was  vain  to  struggle,  and  thus  an  atmosphere  of  innocence 
pervaded  the  passionate  rapture  of  the  scene  and  seemed  almost  to 
justify  the  final  apotheosis  of  Gretchen's  repentant  spirit.  "We  must 
take  some  speedy  oppoi'tunity  of  noticing  in  detail  this  remarkable 
impersonation.  For  the  present  it  must  suffice  to  say  that  Mile. 
Patti's  Margherita  is  the  crowning  glory  of  her  brilliant  career. 


APPENDIX  T 

PATTI  AND  MAPLESON 

(From  the  "Mapleson  Memoirs,"1  Vol.  II.,  pp.  23-25) 

OX  the  second  night  of  our  engagement  we  performed  "La 
Traviata."  That  afternoon,  about  two  o'clock,  Patti's  agent 
called  upon  me  to  receive  the  $5,000  for  her  services  that  evening. 
I  was  at  low  water  just  then,  and  inquiring  at  the  booking-office, 
found  that  I  was  £200  [$1,000]  short.  All  I  could  offer  Signor 
Pranchi  was  the  trifle  of  £S00   [$4,000]   as  a  payment  on  account. 

The.  agent  declined  the  money  and  formally  announced  to  me 
that  my  contract  with  Mine.  Patti  was  at  an  end.  I  accepted  the 
inevitable,  consoling  myself  with  the  reflection '  that,  besides  other 
good  artists  in  my  company,  I  had  now  £800  to  go  on  with. 

Two  hours  afterwards  Signor  Franchi  reappeared. 

"I  cannot  understand,"  he  said,  "how  it  is  you  get  on  so  well 
with  prime  donne,  and  especially  with  Mine.  Patti.  Yon  are  a 
marvellous  man,  and  a  fortunate  one  too,  I  may  add.  Mine.  Patti 
does  not  wish  to  break  her  engagement  with  you,  as  she  certainly 
would  have  done  with  anyone  else  under  the  circumstances.  Give 
me  the  £800  and  she  will  make  every  preparation  for  going  on  the 
stage.  She  empowers  me  to  tell  you  that  she  will  be  at  the  theatre 
in  good  time  for  the  beginning  of  the  opera,  and  she  will  be  ready 
dressed  in  the  costume  of  Violetta,  with  the  exception  only  of  the 
shoes.  You  can  let  her  have  the  balance  when  the  doors  open  and 
the  money  comes  in  from  the  outside  public;  and  directly  she  re- 
ceives it  she  will  put  her  shoes  on  and  at  the  proper  moment  make 
her  appearance  on  the  stage."     I  thereupon  handed  him  the  £800 

i  London:  Remington  and  Co.,  1888.  This  excerpt  is  included  in  the 
Appendix  as  a  curiosity.  The  "shoe  story,"  as  told  in  Mapleson's  Mem- 
oirs, is  more  grossly  exaggerated  than  it  used  to  be  when  he  told  it 
himself;  and  he  always  forgot  to  point  out  the  real  cause  of  the  inci- 
dent, namely,  his  own  unwillingness  to  ahide  by  his  contract  and  pay 
Mine.  Patti  her  fees  in  advance. 

434 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  435 

I  had  already  in  hand  as  the  result  of  subscriptions  in  advance. 
"I  congratulate  you  on  your  good  luck,"  said  Signor  Franchi,  as 
he  departed  with  the  money  in  his  pocket. 

After  the  opening  of  the  doors  I  had  another  visit  from  Signor 
Franchi.  By  this  time  an  extra  sum  of  £160  had  come  in.  I  handed 
it  to  my  benevolent  friend,  and  begged  him  to  carry  it  without  delay 
to  the  obliging  prima  donna,  who,  having  received  £960,  might,  I 
thought,  be  induced  to  complete  her  toilette  pending  the  arrival  of 
the  £40  balance.  Nor  was  I  altogether  wrong  in  my  hopeful  an- 
ticipations. With  a  beaming  face  Signor  Franchi  came  back  and 
communicated  to  me  the  joyful  intelligence  that  Mme.  Patti  had 
got  one  shoe  on.  "Send  her  the  £40,"  he  added,  uand  she  will  put 
on  the  other." 

Ultimately  the  other  shoe  was  got  on,  but  not,  of  course,  until 
the  last  £40  had  been  paid.  Then  Mme.  Patti,  her  face  radiant 
with  benignant  smiles,  went  on  the  stage,  and  the  opera,  already 
begun,  was  continued  brilliantly  until  the  end.  .  .  . 

Soon  afterwards  the  most  money-making  of  prime  donne  was, 
without  being  aware  of  it  at  the  time,  seized  for  debt.  It  happened 
in  this  manner.  From  Boston  we  had  travelled  to  Montreal,  where, 
by  the  way,  through  the  mistake  of  an  agent,  gallery  seats  were 
charged  at  the  rate  of  five  dollars  instead  of  one.  On  reaching  the 
Montreal  railway  station,  we  were  met  by  a  demand  on  the  part  of 
the  railway  company  for  three  hundred  dollars.  The  train  had 
been  already  paid  for,  but  this  was  a  special  charge  for  sending 
the  Patti  travelling  car  along  the  line.  I,  of  course,  resisted  the 
claim,  and  the  more  energetically  inasmuch  as  I  had  not  three  hun- 
dred dollars  in  hand.  I  could  only  get  the  money  by  going  up  to 
the  theatre  and  taking  it  from  the  receipts. 

Meanwhile  the  sheriffs  were  upon  me,  and  the  Patti  travelling 
car,  with  Adelina  asleep  inside,  was  attached,  seized,  and  ultimately 
shunted  into  a  stable,  of  which  the  iron  gates  were  firmly  closed. 

There  was  no  room  for  argument  or  delay.  All  I  had  to  do  was 
to  get  the  money,  and,  hurrying  to  the  theatre,  I  at  once  procured 
it.  Unconscious  of  her  imprisoned  condition,  Mme.  Patti  was  still 
asleep  when  I  took  the  necessary  steps  for  rescuing  from  bondage 
the  car  which  held  her. 


APPENDIX  U 

ADELINA  PATTI  AND  HER  ART 

An  Appreciation.     By  H.  E.  Krekbiel,  from  "Chapters  of 

Opera,"  pp.  125-127) 

AVAST  amount  of  reminiscences  would  have  been  justified  by 
such  a  celebration,1  for  it  would  have  thrown  a  bright  side- 
light on  the  marvellous  career  of  Mme.  Patti,  a  career  without 
parallel  in  the  history  of  the  last  half-century.  Within  three  years 
after  she  made  her  first  essay,  "our  little  Patti,"  as  she  was  then 
fondly  spoken  of,  had  achieved  the  queenship  of  the  lyric  stage; 
and  now.  twenty-two  years  later,  her  title  had  not  suffered  the  slight- 
est impairment.  Within  the  time  singers  who  had  won  the  world's 
admiration  had  been  born,  educated,  and  lifted  to  the  niches  pre- 
pared  for  them  by  popular  appreciation,  but  all  far  below  the 
place  where  Patti  sat  enthroned.  Stars  of  great  brilliancy  had 
flashed  across  the  firmament  and  gone  out  in  darkness,  but  the  re- 
fulgence of  Patti's  art  remained  undimmed,  having  only  grown 
mellower  and  deeper  and  richer  with  time.  Truth  is,  Mme.  Patti 
was  then,  and  is  still,  twenty-five  years  later,  a  musical  miracle; 
and  the  fact  that  she  was  in  New  York  to  sing  in  the  very  spot  in 
which  she  began  her  career  twenty-five  years  before  should  have 
been  celebrated  as  one  of  the  proudest  incidents  in  the  city's  musical 
annals. 

For  the  generation  of  opera-goers  who  grew  up  in  the  period 
which  ought  to  be  referred  to  for  all  time  in  the  annals  of  music 
as  the  Reign  of  Patti,  she  set  a  standard  by  which  all  aspirants  for 
public  favour  were  judged  except  those  whose  activities  were  in  a 
widely  divergent  field.     Not  only  did  she  show  them  what  the  old 

1  The  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of  Mme.  Patti's  debut  in  opera  in  New 
York. 

436 


THE  EEIGN  OF  PATTI  437 

art  of  singing  was,  but  she  demonstrated  the  possibility  of  its  re- 
vival. And  she  did  this  while  admiring  enthusiastically  the  best 
results  of  the  dramatic  spirit  which  pervades  musical  composition 
to-day.  Her  talent  was  so  many-sided  and  so  astonishing,  no  matter 
from  which  side  it  was  viewed,  that  rhapsody  seems  to  be  the  only 
language  left  one  who  attempts  analysis  or  description  of  it. 

Her  voice,  of  unequalled  beauty,  was  no  more  a  gift  of  nature  than 
the  ability  to  assimilate  without  effort  the  things  which  cost  ordi- 
nary mortals  years  of  labour  and  vexation  of  soul.  It  was  perpet- 
ually amazing  how  her  singing  made  the  best  efforts  of  the  best 
of  her  contemporaries  pale,  especially  those  who  depended  on  vocal 
agility  for  their  triumphs.  Each  performance  of  hers  made  it 
plainer  than  it  had  been  before  that  her  genius  penetrated  the  mere 
outward  glitter  of  the  music  and  looked  upon  the  ornament  as  so 
much  means  to  the  attainment  of  an  end;  that  end,  a  beautiful  in- 
terpretation of  the  composer's  thought. 

No  artist  of  her  time  was  so  perfect  an  exponent  as  she  of  the 
quality  of  repose.  So  far  as  appearances  went,  it  was  as  easy  for 
her  to  burden  the  air  with  trills  and  roulades  as  it  was  to  talk. 
She  sang  as  the  lark  sings;  the  outpouring  of  an  ecstasy  of  tones 
of  almost  infinite  number  and  beauty  seemed  in  her  to  be  a  nat- 
ural means  of  expression.  Her  ideas  of  art  were  the  highest,  and 
it  was  a  singular  testimony  of  her  earnestness  that,  while  educated 
in  the  old  Italian  school  of  vocalisation,  and  holding  her  most  ex- 
alted supremacy  as  a  singer  of  Rossini's  music,  her  warmest  love, 
by  her  own  confession,  was  given,  not  to  its  glittering  confections, 
but  to  the  serious  efforts  of  the  most  dramatic  writers.  This  must 
be  remembered  in  the  list  of  her  astonishing  merits  now,  when  her 
voice  can  no  longer  call  up  more  than  "the  tender  grace  of  a  day 
that  is  dead."  Mine  was  the  proud  privilege  and  great  happiness 
of  having  heard  her  often  in  her  prime. 


APPENDIX  V 

PATTI  AS  CABMEN 

(From  the  Times,  July  16,  1885) 

MME.  PATTI  has  evidently  studied  her  character  in  all  its  bear- 
ings and  has  formed  a  distinct  idea  of  it  which,  although  we 
believe  it  to  be  erroneous,  is  at  least  consistent.  Carmen  as  here 
presented  appears  to  us  to  be  little  more  than  a  heartless  flirt,  de- 
lighted to  inspire  feelings  in  others  which  she  does  not  mean  to 
reciprocate,  or  could  not  if  she  would.  The  real  Carmen  of  Prosper 
Merimee's  novel,  as  well  as  of  Bizet's  score,  we  take  to  be  an  em- 
bodiment of  what  Goethe  calls  the  "daemonic"  in  nature — a  girl 
rather  placid  and  enigmatic  than  lively  or  demonstrative  (as  Mme. 
Patti  was)  in  her  ordinary  demeanour,  but  carried  away  by  irresist- 
ible force  when  once  her  passion  takes  a  tangible  form.  When  she 
loves  the  soldier,  nothing  will  serve  her  but  to  ruin  him  for  the  sake 
of  her  caprice.  He  has  to  forsake  his  dying  mother  and  incur  the 
punishment  of  a  deserter  because  so  it  pleases  her.  When  she  leaves 
the  dragoon  for  the  superior  charms  of  the  bull-fighter,  she  is  equally 
willing  to  sacrifice  her  own  life  to  her  passion.  Fate,  through 
means  of  a  pack  of  cards,  gives  the  superstitious  girl  a  warning; 
she  fully  credits  the  omen,  but  she  defies  it. 

Of  all  this  there  was  little  in  Mme.  Patti's  acting,  or  at  least  we 
could  not  discover  it.  Her  by-play  was  a  great  deal  too  elaborate, 
too  lively,  without  showing  much  reference  to  the  essential  features 
of  the  character.  She  did  some  extremely  pretty  and  graceful  things 
— for  instance,  a  regular  little  pas  de  deux,  danced  in  conjunction 
with  Mme.  Cavalazzi.  But  all  this  any  Spanish  or  gipsy  girl  might 
have  done.     Unfortunately,  she  did  not  reserve  her  force  for  the 

1  This  article  was  written  by  Dr.  Franz  Hueffer,  then  newly  appointed 
musical  critic  of  the  Times  in  succession  to  James  H.  Davison,  who 
died  in  March,  1885. 

438 


THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI  439 

salient  points  belonging  to  Carmen  as  a  distinct  individuality :  when 
the  aforesaid  "daemonic"  influences  came  into  play,  her  resources 
were  exhausted.  Thus  her  wooing  of  Jose — for  the  advances  all 
come  from  her  side — was  wanting  in  tenderness.  She  seemed  to  be 
amused  rather  than  fascinated  by  her  weak-minded  lover. 

Again,  her  bursts  of  anger  lacked  the  dignity  of  intense  passion. 
There  was  nothing  of  the  volcanic  fierceness  of  Southern  nature. 
Her  disappointment  was  that  of  a  spoilt  child.  From  this  general 
charge  of  weakness  the  death  scene  must  be  pronounced  exempt. 
Here  Mme.  Patti  rose  to  the  height  of  the  situation,  indicating  with 
psychological  truth  and  great  force  of  dramatic  execution  the  phys- 
ical dread  which  overcomes  Carmen's  defiance  to  fate  when  she  sees 
the  raised  knife  of  the  infuriated  Jose.  It  might  be  well  said, 
"Nothing  in  her  life  became  her  like  the  leaving  of  it."  On  the 
other  hand,  the  fortune-telling  scene,  one  of  the  most  powerful 
situations  in  the  opera,  fell  completely  flat. 

For  this  the  artist  was  not  altogether  responsible.  The  music 
of  this  scene  lies  in  the  middle  register  of  the  voice,  in  which  Mme. 
Patti  can  produce  little  effect.  And  here  we  touch  upon  one  of  the 
chief  difficulties  of  her  task.  The  part  is  written  for  a  mezzo- 
soprano;  it  is  too  low  for  her.  She  has  to  transpose  the  airs  and 
introduce  occasional  changes  in  the  text,  going  up  to  a  higher 
octave  where  the  lower  is  intended.  Moreover,  the  brilliancy  of 
Mme.  Patti's  vocalisation  finds  no  scope  in  this  music.  Bizet  em- 
ploys the  voice  as  a  means  of  dramatic  expression;  the  meaningless 
fireworks  of  the  Italian  school  he  despises.  Notwithstanding  all 
this,  Mme.  Patti's  vocal  rendering  was  one  of  high  excellence  and 
well  worthy  of  her  reputation.  Her  first  song,  with  its  delicate 
dramatic  passages,  was  a  work  of  perfect  vocalisation  and  intelli- 
gent phrasing,  and  the  national  air  with  which  Carmen  lures  the 
poor  soldier  to  ruin  was  given  with  irresistible  charm.  Taken  all 
in  all,  her  effort  deserves  all  the  praise  which  is  due  to  conscien- 
tious study  and  serious  endeavour. 


APPENDIX  W 

TWENTY- FIVE  YEARS  AT  COVENT  GARDEN: 
CELEBRATION:     JULY  25,  1885 

(From  the  "Mapleson  Memoirs,"  Vol.  II.,  pp.  156-160) 

I    ENDED  my  season  about  the  third  week  of  July,  when  Mme. 
Patti  appeared  as  Leonora  in  "II  Trovatore,"  renewing  the  suc- 
cess which  always  attends  her  in  that  familiar  impersonation. 

On  this  night,  the  final  one  of  the  season,  Mme.  Patti  concluded 
her  twenty- fifth  consecutive  annual  engagement  at  Covent  Garden. 
Numbers  of  her  admirers  formed  themselves  into  a  committee  for  the 
purpose  of  celebrating  the  event  by  presenting  her  with  a  suitable 
memorial.  At  the  termination  of  the  opera  the  curtain  rose,  and 
disclosed  Mme.  Adelina  Patti  ready  to  sing  the  national  anthem, 
supported  by  the  band  of  the  Grenadier  Guards,  in  addition  to  the 
band  and  orchestra  of  the  Royal  Italian  Opera.  This  was  the  mo- 
ment chosen  for  the  presentation  of  a  superb  diamond  bracelet, 
subscribed  for  by  admirers  of  the  heroine  of  the  occasion.  Its 
presentation  was  preceded  by  my  delivery  of  the  following  address 
from  the  Committee  of  the  Patti  Testimonial  Fund : 

"Madame  Adelina  Patti:  You  complete  this  evening  your  twenty- 
fifth  annual  engagement  at  the  theatre  which  had  the  honour  of  in- 
troducing you,  when  you  were  still  a  child,  to  the  public  of  England, 
and  indirectly,  therefore,  to  that  of  Europe  and  the  whole  civilised 
world.  There  has  been  no  example  in  the  history  of  the  lyric  drama 
of  such  long-continued,  never  interrupted,  always  triumphant  success 
on  the  boards  of  the  same  theatre;  and  a  number  of  your  most 
earnest  admirers  have  decided  not  to  let  the  occasion  pass  without 
offering  you  their  heartfelt  congratulations. 

'Many  of  them  have  watched  with  the  deepest  interest  an  artistic 
career  which,  beginning  in  the  spring  of  1861,  became  year  after 

440 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  441 

year  more  brilliant,  until  during  the  season  which  terminates  to- 
night the  last  possible  point  of  perfection  seems  to  have  been 
reached.  You  have  been  connected  with  the  Royal  Italian  Opera 
uninterruptedly  throughout  your  long  and  brilliant  career.  During 
the  winter  months  you  have  visited  and  have  been  received  with 
enthusiasm  at  Paris,  St.  Petersburg,  Berlin,  Vienna,  Madrid,  and 
all  the  principal  cities  of  Italy  and  the  United  States.  But  you 
have  allowed  nothing  to  prevent  you  from  returning  every  summer 
to  the  scene  of  your  earliest  triumphs ;  and  now  that  you  have  com- 
pleted your  twenty-fifth  season  in  London,  your  friends  feel  that  the 
interesting  occasion  must  not  be  suffered  to  pass  without  due  com- 
memoration. We  beg  you,  therefore,  to  accept  from  us,  in  the  spirit 
in  which  it  is  offered,  the  token  of  esteem  and  admiration  which  we 
have  now  the  honour  of  presenting  to  you." 

The  National  Anthem,  which  followed,  was  received  with  loyal 
cheers,  and  the  season  terminated  brilliantly.  After  the  perform- 
ance an  extraordinary  scene  took  place  outside  the  theatre.  A  band 
and  a  number  of  torch-bearers  had  assembled  at  the  northern  en- 
trance in  Hart  Street,  awaiting  Mme.  Patti's  departure.  When  she 
stepped  into  her  carriage  it  was  headed  by  the  bearers  of  the  lighted 
torches ;  and  as  the  carriage  left,  the  band  struck  up.  An  enormous 
crowd  very  soon  gathered,  and  it  gradually  increased  in  numbers 
as  the  procession  moved  on.  The  carnage  was  surrounded  by 
police,  and  the  procession,  headed  by  the  band,  consisted  of  about 
a  dozen  carriages  and  cabs,  the  rear  being  brought  up  by  a  vehicle 
on  which  several  men  were  standing  and  holding  limelights,  which 
threw  their  coloured  glare  upon  the  growing  crowd  and  made  the 
whole  as  visible  as  in  the  daytime.  The  procession,  which  left  Hart 
Street  just  before  midnight,  reached  the  Midland  Hotel  in  about 
half  an  hour,  almost  the  whole  distance  having  been  traversed  at  a 
walking  pace.  When  Mme.  Patti  reached  the  hotel  she  was  sere- 
naded by  the  band  for  a  time,  and  more  fireworks  were  let  off.  The 
great  crowd  which  had  assembled  remained  hi  Euston  Road  outside 
the  gates,  which  were  closed  immediately  after  the  carriages  had 
passed  through. 


APPENDIX  X 

SECRET  OF  THE  LONGEVITY  OF  PATTI'S  VOICE 

(From  "Success  in  Music,"  by  Henry  T.  Finck,  pp.  65-66)  1 

THUS,  for  nearly  a  decade  more  than  half  a  century,  has  Ade- 
lina  Patti  been  able  to  arouse  the  enthusiasm  of  the  public 
and  the  cities.     What  is  the  secret  of  this  longevity  of  her  voice1? 

It  lies  in  this,  that  sbe  never  abused  it  and  always  took  good  care 
of  her  health,  resisting  the  temptations  to  self-indulgence  which  her 
great  wealth  abundantly  afforded  her.  She  carefully  avoided  over- 
exertion and  excess  of  any  kind.  In  her  own  words,  "Never  in  my 
whole  career  have  I  sung  oftener  than  three  times  a  week,  and  to 
this  precaution  I  attribute  my  many  years  of  success."  .  .  . 

Throughout  her  career  Patti  kept  up  her  exercises,  but  of  course 
they  were  easy  compared  to  those  which  less  fortunately  endowed 
artists  have  to  submit  to.  "Her  vocal  organs,"  wrote  Hanslick  in 
1879,  "which  she  has  managed  with  such  consummate  skill  since  her 
childhood,  and  with  the  instinctive  certainty  with  which  the  rest  of 
us  perform  an  ordinary  action,  hardly  need  any  more  practice. 
Patti  exercises  solfeggios  daily  for  half  an  hour,  mostly  mezza  voce; 
the  roles  themselves  she  does  not  go  over.  Never  does  she  practise 
facial  expression  or  gestures  before  a  mirror,  because,  as  she  thinks, 
that  only  yields  grimaces  {singeries)." 

The  same  Viennese  critic,  who  knew  her  well  and  had  many  talks 
with  her,  speaks  of  some  of  the  remarkable  things  she  was  able  to 
do.  Her  memory  was  amazing.  She  learned  a  new  role  thor- 
oughly by  softly  singing  it  two  or  three  times,  and  what  she  had 
once  learned  and  sung  in  public  she  never  forgot;  so  that  it  was 
not  necessary  for  her  to  take  the  scores  in  her  trunk  when  she  was 
on  tour.  Equally  remarkable  was  her  sense  of  pitch.  Hanslick 
was  present  once  when  she  sang  the  Jewel  aria  from  "Faust,"  which 

i  London:     John  Murray,  1910. 

442 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  443 

was  followed  by  noisy  demonstrations  of  enthusiasm  lasting  many 
minutes.  Suddenly  Patti,  without  signalling  the  orchestra,  took  up 
the  trill  on  B,  the  orchestra  joined  her  in  the  next  bar,  and  there 
was  not  the  least  difference  in  the  pitch. 

Hanslick's  assertion  that  she  always  sang  with  pure  intonation 
is  not  strictly  true,  for  I  have  heard  her  sing  off  the  pitch  more 
than  once;  but  that  simply  showed  she  is  human.  The  dozens  of 
performances  by  her  I  heard  in  the  Academy  of  Music,  New  York, 
convinced  me  that  she  was  above  most  singers  of  her  class — a  model, 
especially  to  her  Italian  countrywomen — in  so  far  as  she  avoided 
all  clap-trap  display  not  prescribed  in  her  part,  such  as  abnormally 
sustained  high  tones,  interminable  trills,  arbitrary  tempo,  and  ex- 
plosive final  notes. 

Her  evident  relish  of  her  own  work  and  of  stage  life  in  general 
has  been  one  of  the  secrets  of  her  success.  To  be  sure,  she  enjoyed 
the  great  advantage  of  being  entirely  free  from  nervousness.  Even 
when,  as  a  child  of  seven,  she  first  appeared  as  a  concert  singer, 
or  at  sixteen  on  the  operatic  stage,  she  was,  by  her  own  testimony, 
absolutely  ignorant  of  what  stage-fright  means. 

Such  are  the  good  points  of  Patti  and  the  advantages  she  enjoyed. 
Unlike  Jenny  Lind,  moreover,  she  had  great  personal  beauty,  and 
beauty  is  a  joy  forever,  on  the  stage  as  well  as  off. 


APPENDIX  Y 

PATTI  AND  HER  WELSH  CHARITY  CONCERTS 

(From  the  Cambrian,  Swansea,  August  15,  1884) 

TIME  was  when  Patti  was  only  a  name  in  the  provinces,  and 
especially  in  the  Principality  of  Wales.  True,  that  name  was 
a  great  one — the  greatest  name  among  living  exponents  of  song,  but 
still  a  name,  a  reputation  only,  not  an  experience,  not  a  person.  It 
was  said  that  gifts  so  great  and  genius  so  distinguished  as  those  of 
Adelina  Patti  were  not  for  the  enjoyment  of  provincials,  but  were 
reserved  for  the  metropolitan  cities  of  the  world,  where  alone  she 
could  meet  with  a  fit  auditory  and  a  fair  reward.  At  any  rate,  it 
was  confidently  averred  that  the  great  prima  donna  had  never  sung 
in  a  provincial  city,  however  great,  and  that  she  would  not  conde- 
scend to  do  so. 

When  the  Queen  of  Song,  however,  bought  for  herself  a  home 
nest  among  the  Welsh  mountains,  and  when  at  length  she  came  to 
take  up  her  brief  holiday  residence  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle,  there 
was  a  whisper  of  hope  that  her  voice  might  be  heard  in  the  land 
of  her  adoption — the  home  of  minstrelsy,  for,  as  the  old  motto  says, 
"Mor  o  gan  yw  Cymry  gyd."  With  fear  and  trembling  lest  they 
should  be  asking  too  much,  the  late  Silas  Evans  and  his  then  co- 
adjutors in  the  Swansea  Choral  Society  wrote  to  ask  whether  there 
was  the  slightest  chance  of  the  diva  paying  Swansea  a  visit  of  song; 
but  the  answer,  as  might  have  been  expected,  was  not  a  reassuring 
one.  Engagements  were  many,  days  of  rest  few,  and  then — aye, 
and  then,  could  Swansea  afford  to  pay  the  price,  even  the  most 
moderate  price,  which  Mine.  Patti's  services  for  one  concert  were 
valued  at  in  the  musical  world?  No!  No!  And  so  the  matter 
ended. 

The  newspapers  contained  glowing  accounts  of  the  alterations  at 
Craig-y-Nos  Castle,  the  furniture,  the  gardens,  the  conservatories, 

444 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  445 

etc.,  and  now  and  again  there  was  a  whisper  of  "grand  doings  at 
the  castle";  and  ever  and  anon  a  tourist  in  that  wild  valley  would 
relate  how  he  had  wandered  about  the  enchanted  abode  and  heard 
by  stealth  the  Nightingale  sing  "Home,  sweet  home"  so  that  it  went 
to  his  heart;  but  still  Mme.  Patti  was  but  a  name.  Later  on  it  was 
whispered  that  the  romantic  chatelaine  paid  incognita  visits  to 
Swansea.  The  knowing  ones  said  they  had  seen  her  in  the  street, 
leaning  on  the  arm  of  Signor  Nicolini;  and  that  she  was,  as  she 
was  reported  to  be,  beautiful  to  look  upon,  "comely  to  a  wish." 
Then  the  people  heard  of  joyous  proceedings  in  the  Swansea  Valley. 
Mme.  Patti  was  welcomed  to  her  mountain  home  with  an  address, 
with  fireworks,  and  with  song.  But  all  this  was  far  away  from  the 
great  bulk  of  the  people,  to  whom  Mme.  Patti  was  still  a  name,  a 
winsome  mystery,  a  fascinating  romance,  spoken  of  as  a  being  apart, 
and  almost  unapproachable;  the  admired  of  millions,  the  friend  of 
genius,  the  associate  of  emperors  and  kings  and  princes. 

But  at  length  that  spell  was  broken  in  local  life,  and  the  name 
was  exchanged  for  the  personality,  the  reputation  for  the  experi- 
ence. Mme.  Patti  came  down  from  her  pedestal  to  befriend  the  poor 
and  destitute,  and,  in  descending  from  the  standpoint  of  fame  to 
mix  with  the  people  amongst  whom  she  dwelt,  she  ascended  another 
throne — the  throne  of  the  affections  of  a  grateful  people,  whose 
plaudits  and  memory,  whose  esteem  and  love,  she  will  ever  inherit. 

Hearing  that  the  Swansea  General  Hospital  was  in  debt,  she  most 
magnanimously  came  forward  to  its  help,  and  gave  a  concert  which 
realised  no  less  than  £830  10s.  Her  reception  was  a  royal  one  in 
the  best  sense.  The  hearts  of  all  the  populace  went  out  to  meet 
her,  as  their  voices  were  raised  to  acclaim  her  Queen  of  Song  and 
Princess  of  Beneficence.  To  alter  the  words  of  the  all-vanquishing 
Cassar:  She  came,  she  sang,  she  conquered! 


APPENDIX  Z 

PATTTS  THEATRE  AT  CRAIG-Y-NOS  CASTLE 

(From  the  Sunday  Times,  August  15,  1891) 

HERE  in  her  lovely  Welsh  home  Mme.  Patti  has  just  brought 
to  fruition  one  of  the  most  charming'  ideas  that  ever  occurred 
to  a  great  artist.  In  the  old  days,  when  art  flourished  chiefly  by 
aid  of  private  means,  it  was  not  a  rare  thing  for  sovereigns,  princes, 
archbishops,  and  nobles  to  build  themselves  a  theatre  in  their  pal- 
aces. But  until  the  present  moment  no  such  luxury  had  ever,  so 
far  as  I  am  aware,  formed  an  adjunct  to  the  residence  of  a  singer — 
even  of  a  queen  among  singers.  The  reasons  which  have  actuated 
Mme.  Patti  in  the  execution  of  this  purpose  are  simple  enough. 
She  loves  her  home  and  she  loves  her  art.  The  more  she  enjoys  the 
former  the  less  she  can  practise  the  latter.  If  she  remains  six  or 
eight  months  out  of  the  twelve  at  Craig-y-Nos,  amid  delightful 
scenery  and  the  most  perfect  comfort  that  modern  science  can  devise 
or  money  purchase,  she  must  perforce  be  absent  during  that  time 
from  the  stage  which  it  is  to  her  a  happiness  to  tread.  Hence  the 
idea — unite  the  two  pleasures  and  make  them  one  by  erecting  a 
theatre  within  the  very  walls  of  Craig-y-Nos  Castle! 

The  genie  of  the  story,  who  raised  a  palace  in  the  desert,  was  not 
more  powerful  than  is  our  diva  of  the  lyric  stage.  He  was  a  little 
quicker  in  carrying  out  his  operations,  that  was  all.  Two  years  ago 
Mme.  Patti  said,  "I  will  have  my  theatre,"  and  within  twelve  months 
it  was  built.  The  work  of  decorating  and  fitting  up  the  interior 
has  only,  however,  been  finished  lately;  for,  although  on  a  small 
scale,  it  is  very  elaborately  constructed,  and  neither  in  the  audi- 
torium nor  on  the  stage  has  aught  been  omitted  that  could  please 
the  eye  or  tend  to  secure  mechanical  completeness.  In  plan,  indeed, 
it  is  a  Bayreuth  Theatre  en  miniature:  no  side  boxes  or  seats,  a 

446 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  447 

single  gallery  at  the  back,  stalls  sloping  clown  to  an  orchestra  low- 
ered so  that  the  musicians  are  almost  out  of  sight,  and  a  clever 
system  of  stage  lighting  by  electricity.  The  pure  Renaissance  of 
the  architecture  is  set  off  to  advantage  by  a  singularly  delicate 
scheme  of  color — pale  blue,  cream,  and  gold — to  which  the  deep 
sapphire  of  the  plush  curtains  supplies  a  most  effective  contrast. 
The  walls  and  proscenium  are  handsomely  decorated,  and  between 
graceful  columns  are  inscribed  in  panels  the  names  of  all  the  great 
composers.  The  scenery  is  painted  by  some  of  our  best  theatrical 
artists,  while  the  act-drop,  representing  Semiramide  driving  her  war 
chariot,  drawn  by  two  fiery  steeds,  is  a  very  daring  and  spirited 
achievement,  the  value  of  which  is  enhanced  by  the  admirable  like- 
ness that  the  queen  of  the  picture  bears  to  the  Queen  of  Song. 

Altogether,  then,  the  little  theatre  at  Craig-y-Nos  is  quite  a  gem 
of  its  kind ;  and  let  me  add  that,  to  be  in  keeping  with  everything 
else  here,  it  could  not  very  well  have  been  less.  Ever  since  they 
took  up  their  residence  in  this  out-of-the-way  paradise,  M.  and  Mine. 
Nicolini  have  been  augmenting  its  beauties  and  increasing  its  stock 
of  treasures.  The  theatre  is  only  part  of  a  new  wing  which,  besides 
adding  immensely  to  the  imposing  exterior  proportions  of  the  castle, 
yields  an  amount  of  space  within  which  the  hospitable  tendencies 
of  the  host  and  hostess  rendered  absolutely  essential.  In  one  of  the 
noble  suite  of  apartments  thus  created  is  placed  the  famous  orches- 
trion of  Backer  and  Kroll,  of  Geneva  and  Freibourg,  which  is  the 
largest  in  the  world  and  probably  the  only  one  worked  by  electricity. 
It  is  a  magnificent  instrument,  and  remarkable  as  much  for  its  mel- 
lowness of  tone  as  for  the  accuracy  with  which  it  reproduces  the  most 
subtle  orchestral  effects.  Wagner  it  brings  in  a  truly  wonderful 
way,  the  "Tannhauser"  overture  and  the  Trauermarsch  from  "Sieg- 
fried" being  by  no  means  beyond  the  capacity  of  this  extraordinary 
piece  of  mechanism.  Nor  does  anyone  listen  to  these  things  with 
greater  delight  than  Mme.  Patti  herself,  for  she  adores  Wagner's 
music  and  only  wishes  she  could  sing  it  without  the  danger  of  a 
strain  that  might  be  harmful  to  her  voice. 


APPENDIX  AA 

PATTPS  RETURN  TO  COVENT  GARDEN  (1895) 

(From  the  Sunday  Times,  June  16,  1895) 

IT  was  a  great  night.  I  have  assisted  at  a  good  many  Covent 
Garden  functions  in  my  time — State  nights,  the  Patti  nights 
of  old,  first  nights,  farewell  nights,  and  nearly  all  the  rest  of  the 
special  nights  that  there  have  been  there  since  the  seventies  began ; 
but  never  yet  have  I  witnessed  within  those  classic  walls  an  event 
so  profoundly  interesting,  so  absolutely  unique  in  its  nature,  as  the 
return  of  Mine.  Patti  in  Verdi's  "Traviata"  on  Tuesday  last.  It  was 
not  so  much  the  outward  aspect  of  the  scene  that  was  remarkable, 
though  that  was  sufficiently  brilliant  to  call  forth  the  descriptive 
powers  of  a  Sala  or  a  Bennett.  It  was  rather  the  fact  that  London 
was  welcoming  back  to  her  proper  sphere  a  singer  who  had  held 
undisputed  sway  among  the  giants  of  her  art  for  a  period  of  thirty- 
four  years,  and  who,  after  an  absence  of  a  decade,  was  capable  of 
resuming  her  place  upon  the  Covent  Garden  boards,  peerless  and 
unapproachable  as  on  the  day  she  last  appeared  there. 

Such  a  thing,  it  is  needless  to  say,  is  utterly  without  precedent  in 
the  history  of  the  operatic  stage.  Famous  singers  have  come  and 
gone,  and  come  back  again,  before  now,  but  hardly  a  case  can  be 
cited  in  which  it  would  not  have  been  better  for  their  reputation 
had  the  return  "after  many  days"  been  avoided.  Concerning  Mme. 
Patti,  it  assuredly  never  will  be  said  that  she  profits  by  a  bygone 
renown.  It  was  choice,  not  necessity,  that  induced  her  to  return 
to  a  stage  to  which  she  had  not  yet  hidden  adieu,  and  the  reason 
why  she  did  not  shirk  the  ordeal  was  because  she  knew  her  powers 
to  be  still  undimmed  in  lustre,  and  therefore  still  worthy  of  her 
name.  She  is  too  sensible — nay,  too  sensitive — to  run  any  risks  in 
this  matter. 

Nevertheless,   the  representative   audience  of  Tuesday  contained 

448 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  449 

enough  of  the  new  generation  (which  "knew  not  Patti")  for  it  to 
be  discriminating,  and  even  critical.  There  was  no  indulging  in 
wild  enthusiasm  as  an  affair  of  duty.  I  fancied  I  recognised  the 
accents  of  the  vieille  garde  as  it  uttered  its  shout  of  welcome  when 
the  marvellous  little  lady — the  most  fascinating  Violetta  that  ever 
trod  the  boards — tripped  forward  with  all  the  youthful  grace  and 
lightness  of  yore,  resplendent  with  jewels,  and  attired  to  perfection 
in  the  loveliest  of  pink  satin  gowns.  How  could  she  be  other  than 
nervous  at  such  a  moment?  It  was  wonderful  how  she  controlled 
her  emotion  and  sang  her  "Ah,  fors'  e  lui,"  with  such  steadiness  and 
verve,  and  with  the  ever-incomparable  beauty  of  tone  and  charm 
of  style.  But  the  reserve  and  self-control  exercised  throughout  that 
first  act  only  afforded  one  more  proof  of  greatness  in  the  great 
artist.  The  old  admirers  might  still  be  to  the  fore  with  the  plaudits 
and  the  recalls;  there  was  plenty  of  time  to  complete  the  victory 
of  the  new  legion. 

In  the  second  act  Mme.  Patti,  quite  herself  once  more,  acted  as  I 
have  never  before  seen  her  act.  Such  spontaneity,  such  impulse, 
such  intense  feeling,  she  had  never  thrown  either  into  the  scene 
with  the  father  or  the  farewell  to  Alfredo.  The  superb  tones,  too, 
rang  true,  and  touched  the  heart  as  no  others  can.  When  the  cur- 
tain fell  this  time  there  was  a  distinct  crescendo;  but  the  climax 
of  the  night's  demonstrations  only  came  at  the  end  of  the  third  act, 
after  the  most  powerful  and  graphic  realisation  of  the  ball-room 
episode  that  the  unhappy  Violetta  has  as  yet  figured  in.  Then  it 
was  that  the  whole  house  rose  at  the  diva,  called  her  forward  again 
and  again,  and,  from  the  front  row  of  the  stalls  to  the  hindmost 
ranks  in  the  gallery  and  slips,  substantially  acknowledged  that  there 
was  only  one  Patti  in  the  world.  That  splendid  ovation  was  prob- 
ably the  grandest  triumph  that  she  has  ever  won  in  the  whole 
course  of  her  career. 


APPENDIX  BB 

HONOURS  TO  MADAME  PATTI  AT  BRECON 

(Joseph  Bennett  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  May  25,  1897) 

THE  Queen  of  Song,  as  she  is  called  here  with  convincing' 
iteration,  paid  her  first  visit  to  Brecon  in  1889,  when  the  Na- 
tional Eisteddfod  held  its  meeting  under  the  shadow  of  what  re- 
mains of  the  old  castle.  That  was  a  memorable  event  in  Eisteddfodic 
annals,  since  it  marked  a  record  attendance,  no  fewer  than  12,814 
persons  passing  the  turnstile  during  the  Patti  day.  On  that  occa- 
sion the  greal  artist  sang  three  songs  to  the  enthusiastic  crowd,  who 
worshipped  her  with  true  Welsh  fervour.  Mabon  was  the  Eistedd- 
fod conductor,  and  led  the  chorus  in  "Land  of  my  Fathers." 

Said  the  Lady  of  Craig-y-Nos,  "You  have  a  splendid  voice,  sir"; 
and  the  hon.  member,  not  to  be  outdone,  answered,  "So  have  you, 
madame." 

In  view  of  still  another  celebration,  the  "Conscript  Fathers"  of 
Brecon  took  a  step  without  precedent  in  the  annals  of  the  town. 
They  have  never  scattered  honours  lavishly.  I  am  assured,  indeed, 
that  the  freedom  of  the  borough  has  been  granted  to  outsiders  only 
five  times.  It  was  this  rare  dignity  that  the  Mayor  and  Corpora- 
tion offered  to  Mme.  Patti-Nicolini,  and  that  the  Queen  of  Song  to- 
day came  hither  to  receive,  with  all  due  pomp  and  ceremony.  When 
Brecon  had  made  its  offer  to  the  Lady  of  the  Castle,  and  she  had 
graciously  accepted,  the  authorities  here  very  properly  resolved  not 
to  do  things  by  halves.  The  burgess-elect  they  determined  should 
be  received  with  almost  royal  honours,  met  at  the  railway  station  by 
the  dignitaries  of  the  borough  and  county,  and  escorted  to  the  Eis- 
teddfod hall  in  solemn  procession.  .  .  . 

So  did  official  Brecon  proceed  to  meet  its  guest,  presently  re- 
turning through  the  sunlit  streets  with  Mme.  Patti  occupying  the 

450 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  451 

place  of  honour  in  the  Mayor's  carriage.  The  ceremony  at  the  sta- 
tion was  brief  and  simple.  On  the  party  from  Craig-y-Nos  alight- 
ing, the  "Queen"  was  conducted  by  the  Mayor  to  his  carriage,  the 
Mayoress  having  first  presented  her  with  a  superb  bouquet.  Mme. 
Patti's  companions,  among  whom  were  the  Baroness  von  Zedlitz  and 
Mr.  Augustus  Spalding,  were  next  escorted  to  the  carriages  in 
waiting,  and  when  all  was  ready  the  procession  set  out,  passing 
under  triumphal  arches  and  through  lanes  of  admiring  and  applaud- 
ing people. 

An  incident  on  the  way  should  be  mentioned.  Brecon,  like  Lon- 
don, once  possessed  a  gateway,  which  has  disappeared;  but  the  site 
is  known,  and  there  the  townsfolk  built  a  castellated  arch,  that  the 
town's  guest  might  enter  with  the  more  ceremony.  On  the  Mayor's 
carriage  arriving  at  this  structure,  which  was  supposed  to  be  closed, 
the  Deputy-Mayor  (Mr.  Lewis  Williams)  uplifted  his  voice  and 
said:  "Admit  Mme.  Patti-Nicolini  into  the  confines  of  the  borough 
of  Brecon."  There  was  none  to  say  him  "nay,"  and  the  procession 
passed  triumphantly  on  to  the  hall  with  blare  of  bugle  and  beat  of 
drum.  As  Mme.  Patti  entered,  leaning  on  the  arm  of  the  Mayor, 
enthusiastic  cheers  were  raised,  and  continued  till  she  had  taken  her 
place  in  a  large  chair  of  carved  oak,  the  Mayor  on  her  left  and 
the  Mayoress  on  her  right.  .  .  . 

Now  began  the  ceremony  of  making  a  new  burgess.  In  the  first 
place,  the  Mayor,  after  a  few  introductory  words,  in  which  he 
feelingly  referred  to  the  absence  of  Mr.  Nicolini  through  illness, 
called  upon  the  town  clerk  to  read  the  resolution  conferring  the 
freedom  of  the  borough  on  Mme.  Patti.  This  done,  the  new  burgess 
advanced  to  the  table,  took  the  oath,  which  bound  her,  among  other 
things,  to  obey  the  Mayor  of  Brecon  for  the  time  being,  and  signed 
the  freemen's  roll  with,  as  someone  said,  "a  steady  hand  and  a 
sweet  smile." 

It  was  now  the  business  of  the  Mayor  to  ask  Mme.  Patti's  accept- 
ance of  a  costly  casket,  containing  the  certificate  of  her  freedom. 
This  is  a  very  beautiful  example  of  its  kind,  surmounted  by  the 
goat  of  Wales,  and  enriched  in  various  ways,  notably  by  a  repre- 
sentation in  relief  of  Craig-y-Nos  Castle.  Expectation  among  the 
great  audience  was  keen  when  the  Eisteddfod  conductor  (Mr.  Rhys 


452  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

Davies,  J. P.)  announced  (hat  Mme.  Patti  would  return  thanks 
"With  a  song!"  exclaimed  a  voice  at  the  far  end  of  the  hall;  and 
the  interruption  called  forth  hearty  cheering.  But  the  diva,  only 
just  recovering  from  illness,  could  not  sing,  and  her  thanks  were 
given  by  proxy,  Mr.  Spalding  being  put  up  for  that  purpose. 
Lord  Tredegar  followed,  with  words  of  congratulation  to  the  young- 
est burgess,  and  so  the  municipal  ceremony  came  to  an  end. 

But  Mme.  Patti  was  not  yet  to  be  liberated.  She  had  offered  a 
gold-mounted  baton  to  the  conductor  of  the  male  voice  choir  which 
came  out  first  in  a  previous  competition.  That  choir  now  sang  the 
principal  test  piece  in  admirable  style,  which  done,  the  conductor 
advanced  to  the  front,  bent  his  knee,  and  received  from  the  donor's 
hand  his  glittering  prize.  .  .  .  The  name  of  the  successful  competi- 
tor for  the  bardic  chair  having  been  proclaimed,  that  gentleman  was 
led  forward  to  he  installed  in  due  form.  A  sword  in  a  dilapidated 
leather  case,  an  historic  weapon,  I  understand,  was  held  above  his 
head  by  Mme.  Patti,  the  Mayor  and  Mayoress,  and  Lord  Tredegar, 
while  the  conductor  recited  some  formula  in  Welsh  and  the  audi- 
ence gave  stentorian  responses.  With  this  came  to  an  end  Mme. 
Patti's  labours,  and  she  retired,  the  street  procession  reforming  to 
escort  her  to  the  station  with  no  abatement  of  pomp  and  circum- 
stance. Thus  closed  a  very  remarkable  demonstration  in  honour  of 
a  great  artist,  most  excellent  neighbour. 

I  cannot  finish  this  message  more  appropriately  than  by  quoting 
a  sonnet  on  Mme.  Patti  which  won  the  prize  to-day.  It  is  by  Mr. 
J.  Hutchinson,  of  the  Middle  Temple  Library,  and  runs  thus: 

CJreat  Queen  of  Song,  accept  this  votive  wreath, 

Culled  from  Parnassus,  where  the  Muses  oft 

Have  stopped  to  catch,  home  upward  through  the  soft, 

Still  amhient  air,  thy  voice,  holding  their  hreath 

In  deep,  entranced  silence  still  as  death — 

Euterpe  dropping  from  her  lips  her  flute, 

And  e'en  Apollo  envious  standing  mute, 

Whilst  thou,  inspired  as  one  that  ministreth 

Before  his  altar,  told'st  the  sweet,  sad   tale 

Of  human  love — tale,  old  hut  ever  new — 

In  varied  forms,  in  gentle  Lucia's  sighs, 

In  Xormas  rage,  in  Gret Chen's  dying  wail, 

Amina's  moan — in  tones  that  sweeter  grew 

The  longer  heard,  and,  heard,  are  memories. 


APPENDIX  CC 

FORTY  YEARS  BEFORE  THE  LONDON  PUBLIC 

(From  the  Sunday  Times,  November  24,  1901) 

FOR  exactly  forty  years  the  famous  prima  donna  has  held  un- 
disputed sway  in  the  hearts  of  the  English  people  as  the  great- 
est of  living  singers;  and  that  the  sovereignty  still  endures  there 
is  ample  proof  in  such  a  gathering  as  that  which  assembled  in  the 
Albert  Hall  last  Thursday  evening.  Really,  to  bestow  fresh  honours 
upon  Patti,  upon  whom  they  have  been  heaped  by  nearly  every 
European  "crowned  head"  of  her  time,  would,  after  all,  be  akin  to 
"painting  the  lily."  Vox  populi,  vox  Dei;  and  if  the  old  adage 
be  true,  then  no  nobler  distinction  could  fall  to  an  artist  than  the 
tribute  of  an  assemblage  of  ten  thousand  persons  drawn  together 
by  the  sole  magic  of  her  name  and  for  the  sole  delight  of  listening 
to  her  still  incomparable  singing.  The  scene  may  be  familiar 
enough,  but  each  year  that  it  is  reenacted  it  becomes  more  remark- 
able, more  noteworthy;  and  in  the  present  instance  it  was  peculiarly 
so  because  the  crowd  was  by  far  the  largest  and  most  brilliant  that 
had  attended  a  Patti  concert  in  the  evening  for  several  seasons. 

A  dissertation  upon  "The  Born  Singer  Made  Perfect  by  the  High- 
est Order  of  Vocal  Art"  is  never  out  of  place  just  after  Adelina 
Patti  has  tripped  upon  the  stage  or  the  concert  platform.  But,  at 
this  moment,  enough  that  we  find  embodied  in  Mme.  Patti  a  forcible 
illustration  of  the  Darwinian  theory  relating  to  the  "survival  of  the 
fittest."  So  far  there  survives  in  her  all  that  is  best  in  the  teach- 
ing of  the  great  Italian  school.  The  trouble  is  that  one  does  not 
see  indications  of,  a  possible  perpetuation  of  that  survival.  One 
can  only  rejoice  so  long  as  Mme.  Patti  remains  an  active  exponent 
of  her  art — an  unanswerable  argument  in  favour  of  her  remaining 
before  the  public  for  as  many  seasons  to  come  as  it  may  please  her 
to  do  so. 

453 


•154  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

It  is  indeed  marvellous  how  little  the  golden  voice  loses  of  its 
pristine  freshness,  vigour,  and  charm.  The  "Jewel  Song,"  the  "Batti, 
batti,"  the  "Bacio"  of  the  other  night  were  no  mere  echoes  of  the 
past,  but  very  actual  and  very  beautiful  replicas  of  the  original. 
The  tender  pathos  of  the  "Home,  sweet  home,"  the  infinite  grace 
and  humour  of  the  "Comin'  thro'  the  rye,"  were  part  of  a  mystery 
to  which  Patti  alone  holds  the  clue.  And  then,  what  a  delight  to 
once  more  bear  her  in  Wagner's  "Triiume,"  which,  when  she  sings 
it,  has  a  fascination  that  it  never  has  on  the  lips  of  any  other  artist. 
Tone,  phrasing,  color,  diction,  and  German  accent  are  alike  fault- 
less. The  choice  of  Tosti's  piquant  "Serenata"  as  an  encore  after 
"Triiume"  was  perhaps  less  due  to  its  Wagnerian  character  than 
the  fact  that  Mile.  Clara  Eissler  could  furnish  a  harp  accompaniment 
for  one  as  well  as  the  other.  With  these  exceptions,  Mme.  Patti's 
accompaniments  were  played  by  Mr.  Wilhelm  Ganz,  Mr.  Sewell  tak- 
ing charge  of  the  remainder. 

Madame  Clara  Butt,  in  capital  voice,  gave  a  broad,  dramatic  ren- 
dering of  "Divinites  du  Styx."  Mr.  William  Green  and  Mr.  Ken- 
nerley  Rum  ford  in  turn  earned  genuine  successes;  as  did  Miss  El- 
dina  Bligh  with  her  violin  solos  and  Herr  Wilhelm  Backhaus  in 
pianoforte  pieces  by  Grieg  and  Liszt.  In  short,  there  was  ample 
material  for  enjoyment  from  beginning  to  end  of  the  concert. 


APPENDIX  DD 

ADELINA  PATTI :     A  FAREWELL  APPRECIATION 

(Joseph  Bennett,  in  the  Daily  Telegraph,  December  1,  1906) 

THIRTY-FOUR  years  ago  I  wrote  a  column  article  for  this 
journal,  headed  [with  the  same  name]  as  is  that  just  now  be- 
ginning. The  time  was  July,  1872,  and  the  immediate  provocation 
to  utterance  the  great  singer's  first  appearance  as  Valentino,  in  "Les 
Huguenots."  She  was  then  in  the  full  bloom  of  her  powers. 
Eleven  years  had  passed  since  she  stepped  upon  the  stage  as  a 
novice — if  ever  she  had  a  novitiate — or,  at  any  rate,  as  a  young  and 
inexperienced  debutante,  charged  to  assert  herself  on  the  most  diffi- 
cult stage  in  the  world,  and  before  an  audience  not  apt  to  receive 
newcomers  with  open  arms.  The  child — for  in  years  she  was  noth- 
ing more — came  as  a  stranger  amongst  us,  but  on  that  point  let  me 
be  egotistical  enough  to  quote  from  my  old  article : 

"She  came,  as  amateurs  of  opera  well  remember,  unheralded  by 
trumpet-blowing,  and  unsupported  by  organised  enthusiasm  (an 
article  at  that  time  largely  manufactured).  In  plain  terms,  she 
took  her  chance  with  the  public,  resting  solely  upon  personal  merits 
for  a  favourable  issue.  The  result  is  matter  of  history,  and  in  it 
genuine  talent  may  discover  ample  reason  for  hope  and  confidence. 
We  do  not  overlook  the  gifts  of  person  and  manner  which  were 
adventitious  but  important  aids  to  Mme.  Patti's  triumph,  and  still 
form  an  element  in  her  unmatched  perfection ;  but,  these  things 
apart,  it  is  encouraging  to  see  how  genius  can  make  its  way  to  the 
front  and  there  command  approval." 

The  words  above  cited  were  written  with  all  the  circumstances  of 
the  artist's  early  career  well  in  mind,  and  the  long  years  that  have 
since  come  and  gone  do  not  affect  their  propriety.  But  time  has 
piled  up  other  evidence  to  the  same  effect — piled  it  up  as  the  an- 

455 


456  THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI 

cient  Egyptians  built  the  Pyramids,  ever  tending  to  an  apex  and  a 
consummation,  which  has  now  been  reached;  for  to-day  Adelina 
Patti  retires  from  the  exercise  of  her  profession,  and,  in  the  Albert 
Hall,  bids  her  admirers  a  long  farewell,  after  forty-five  years  of 
service.  Any  review  of  a  career  so  extended  and  so  famous  must 
needs  be  of  interest,  but  within  the  limits  of  a  newspaper  column 
only  the  more  salient  points  can  be  touched.  To  those  I  invite  the 
reader's  attention. 

Calling  to  mind  that  "little  Lina,"  as  Maurice  Strakosch  used  to 
style  his  sister-in-law  and  pupil,  came  to  London  without  heralds, 
nobody  is  surprised  to  hear  that  the  two  operatic  managers  who 
then  "flourished"  in  the  metropolis  looked  somewhat  askance  at  the 
new  candidate  for  their  good  graces.  She  was  almost  unknown; 
she  was  so  young,  so  petite,  in  comparison  with  the  voluminous  and 
commanding  prime  donne  of  the  day;  and  so  untried  upon  a  great 
stage  that  the  wonder  is  the  aspirant  was  not  sent  away  empty  of 
all  save  barren  promises.  An  impresario  is,  perhaps,  not  the  wisest 
of  men,  even  in  his  own  vocation. 

I  recall  the  incident  of  Gounod's  "Faust";  how  Frederic  Gye 
and  Augustus  Harris  pere  travelled  to  Paris,  heard  the  novelty,  and 
came  back  saying  that  there  were  only  two  "numbers"  of  special 
value  in  it — a  soldiers'  chorus  and  one  for  old  men.  "Faust"  was 
declined.  The  chief  of  the  rival  house,  a  man  of  esprit,  probably 
thought  that  any  decision  reached  by  his  opponent  must,  on  that 
very  account,  be  wrong,  and  presently  took  up  the  running,  with 
what  result  everybody  knows.  In  the  case  of  Adelina  Patti,  it  was 
Mr.  Gye's  turn  to  be  in  luck,  and  to  bag  a  veritable  mascotte,  whose 
influence  caused  showers  of  golden  blessings  to  rain  upon  Covent 
Garden. 

The  debut  (May  14, 1SG1)  was  a  surprise  for  London.  Like  a  bolt 
out  of  the  blue  for  unexpectedness  came  this  girlish  Amina,  and  war- 
bled Bellini's  ornate  strains,  "as  effortless  as  woodland  nooks  send 
violets  up  and  paint  them  blue."  The  victory  was  complete.  Critics 
were  unanimous,  but  this  was  a  case  in  which  the  public  needed 
neither  prompting  nor  guidance.  They  placed  the  small  stranger's 
feet  upon  their  own  necks,  and  gloried  in  being  her  subjects.  Still, 
there  were  some  who  said :     "Another  light  soprano,  that  is  all.     A 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  457 

very  good  one,  no  doubt,  and  the  musically  frivolous  will  rejoice 
in  her;  but  we  await  a  higher  good."  These  did  not  know  "little 
Lina,"  nor  what,  as  an  apparition,  she  signified. 

For  some  time  she  played  the  light  soprano  roles,  London  be- 
coming familiar  with  her  Violetta,  Lucia,  Zerlina,  Rosina,  and  not  a 
few  more.  But  all  this  time  she  Was  dreaming  of  conquest  on  an- 
other plane.  Growing  experience  of  art  in  relation  to  life  gave 
her,  in  common  with  every  such  aspirant,  a  more  serious  outlook, 
and  the  outlook  stimulated  ambition.  She  would  appear  as  a  dra- 
matic soprano,  and  one  night  in  the  later  sixties — I  forget  the  exact 
date — she  walked  the  stage  in  the  garb  of  Verdi's  Leonora,  amid 
the  dark  shadows  of  tragedy.  The  effort  was  not  then  repeated, 
and  there  were  some  who  proclaimed  a  defeat.  Vaulting  ambition, 
in  their  view,  had  o'erleaped  itself.  I  cannot  deny  the  record  that 
the  artist,  for  some  reason  or  other,  drew  back  from  the  part.  A 
reasonable  assumption  is  that  she  failed  to  satisfy  herself,  and  re- 
coiled the  better  to  leap  forward  later. 

The  leap  was  made  in  1872,  and  resulted  in  a  triumph  the  mem- 
ory of  which  remains  with  me,  clear  and  moving,  to  this  day.  So 
encouraged,  Mme.  Patti  lost  no  time  in  making  another  inroad  upon 
the  domain  of  dramatic  soprani,  and,  also  in  1872,  appeared  as 
Valentina  in  "Les  Huguenots,"  the  occasion  being  her  own  "benefit." 
It  was  a  moving  performance,  and  seems  to  have  moved  me,  for 
I  wrote,  apropos  to  its  immediate  effect:  "Five  times  was  Mme. 
Patti  summoned  before  the  curtain  amid  roars  of  applause,  having 
to  pick  her  way  through  the  flowers  with  which  the  stage  was  cov- 
ered, and  then  to  load  herself  with  the  pretty  tributes  till  she  looked 
like  nothing  so  much  as  an  animated  bouquet." 

Becoming  bolder  with  success,  the  public's  favourite  essayed  (July, 
1885)  to  play  Carmen — a  character  part  demanding  a  temperament 
which  was  not  hers,  and  one,  moreover,  which  demanded  an  actress 
rather  than  a  singer.  It  is  likely  that  the  artist  had  some  doubts 
as  to  the  result  of  this  venture,  but  it  was  necessary  for  her  to 
take  it  up  in  order  to  share  in  the  applause  which  the  public  were 
eager  to  bestow  upon  every  representative  of  a  character  in  part 
repellent,  yet  altogether  fascinating.  In  her  embodiment  of  the 
heroine,  Mme.  Patti,  with  singular  good  judgment,  elected  to  rely 


458  THE  KEIGN  OF  PATTI 

more  upon  the  fatalism  in  the  gipsy's  nature  than  upon  more 
demonstrative  traits.  I  remember  being  struck  with  the  intensity 
of  the  impression  she  made  in  the  card  scene  and  in  the  final  situa- 
tion. So  far,  good;  but  Mine.  Patti's  Carmen,  with  all  its  merits, 
failed  to  hold  the  public  securely,  and  the  artist  did  not  persevere. 

In  the  foregoing  remarks  I  have  touched  the  main  points  of  Mme. 
Patti's  career — those,  namely,  which  indicate  development  and  prog- 
ress as  an  operatic  artist.  By  such  she  is  and  will  be  judged,  and 
her  place  in  the  hierarchy  of  the  lyric  stage  determined.  She  has 
no  cause  to  fear  the  judgment  of  the  future,  not  even  when  the  in- 
fluences of  proximity  have,  through  flux  of  time,  entirely  ceased  to 
act. 

A  long  time  has  passed  since  Mme.  Patti  took  part  in  musical 
festivals,  or  in  concerts  other  than  those  which  bear  her  own  name. 
But  she  is  remembered  as  "a  bright  particular  star"  on  the  plat- 
form as  well  as  on  the  stage.  I  recall  the  part  she  took  in  Costa's 
"Naaman,"  and  the  delightful  simplicity  with  which  she  sang  the 
music  of  the  little  Hebrew  maid  who  dwelt  in  the  house  of  the 
Syrian  leper  and  played  so  great  a  part  in  bringing  about  his  cure. 
Mme.  Patti  has  appeared  also  at  the  Handel  festivals,  singing 
brilliantly  such  airs  as  "From  mighty  kings,"  and  executing  the 
Handelian  "divisions"  as  though  to  the  manner  bora.  But  all  this 
class  of  work  belongs  to  a  somewhat  distant  past,  and  there  is  no 
need  to  tell  how  more  recent  time  has  been  spent,  beyond  mention 
of  the  fact  that  the  artist's  occasional  tours  with  a  few  of  her  fa- 
vourite songs  have  served  to  make  her  person  known  to  a  generation 
unborn  when  she  was  in  her  prime,  and  to  convey  some  idea  of  the 
vocal  charm  which  made  her  path  through  life  a  via  triumphalis. 

Of  Mme.  Patti's  social  success  this  is  not  the  place  to  speak,  and 
the  task  may  well  be  left  to  her  biographer,  who  will  have  to  de- 
scribe, as  best  he  may,  her  career  at  the  glittering  Court  of  the 
Third  [?]  Empire,  as  the  chatelaine  of  a  Welsh  castle,  and  as  Lady 
Bountiful  of  half  a  county.  Varied  scenes,  a  crowded  life  and 
much  experience  of  "men  and  cities"  are  further  material  for  fu- 
ture record,  none  of  which  do  those  desire  to  lose  who  know  that 
this  unique  artist  stands,  in  many  respects,  apart  from  all  her  kind. 
Who  does  not  wish  her  well  through  the  time  that  lies  before  her, 


THE  REIGN  OF  PATTI  459 

and  desire  that,  as  she  has  given  exquisite  pleasure  to  thousands  by 
the  exercise  of  her  wonderful  gift,  so  she  may  herself  find  equal 
delight  in  the  passage  of  her  maturer  years,  when  the  old  music 
has  taken  a  subtler  form  and  offers  a  deeper  meaning1?  With  some 
such  hope  as  this,  I  feel  sure  that  Adelina  Patti's  audience  to-day 
will  watch  her  depart  from  among  them. 


INDEX 


Abbey,  Henry  E. :  organizes  con- 
cert tour  (America),  203;  Met- 
ropolitan Opera  House  competi- 
tion, 206,  210;  visits  Craig-y- 
Nos,  233;  terms  for  first  "fare- 
well" tour,  238;  at  Metropolitan 
Opera  House,  240;  first  South 
American  tour  (1888),  244-248; 
second  South  American  tour 
(1889),  254  et  seq.;  opera-re- 
cital tour   (1891-2),  310,  357 

Abramoff,  240 

Adams,   Suzanne,   253 

Adina  ("Elisir  d'Amore"),  42, 
139,  169 

Agnesi,  158 

A'ida:  116;  studies,  with  Verdi, 
186;  Covent  Garden  production 
of,  187-189  in  America,  205,  211 

Albani,  Emma,  158,  163,  183,  205, 
235,  256,  327,  342,  375 

Albert  Hall  concerts:  235;  first 
"Patti  concerts,"  236,  237,  241, 
246,  260,  263,  314;  first  sings 
Wagner  at,  315,  316,  319,  320, 
335,  336,  341,  342;  reappearance 
(1899)  at,  349,  354,  361,  363, 
364;  public  farewell  (1906)  at, 
363-366;  the  final  programme, 
366,  373,  374;  Albani  and  Ganz 
farewells  at,  375 

Alboni,  Marietta:  40,  57,  68,  95; 
duet  with,  at  Eossini's  funeral, 
174,  181,  381 

Alexander,  Czar,  176 

Alvarez,  350 

American  tours:  (1881-2),  202, 
203;  (1882-3),  204,  205;  (1883- 
84),  206  et  seq.;  first  "farewell" 
under  Abbey  projected,  238;  its 


success  (1886-7),  239-241;  first 
visit  to  South  America  (1888), 
244-248 ;  second  South  American 
tour  (1889),  254;  North  and 
South  (1889-90),  254  et  seq.; 
(1891-2),  310;  (1893-4),  311, 
312;  final  farewell  (1903),  356 
et  seq. 

Amino,  ("La  Somnambula")  :  42, 
50,  64;  London  debut  as,  at  Co- 
vent  Garden,  70-76,  80,  86,  106; 
Paris  debut  as,  112;  in  Vienna, 
113,  136,  140;  in  Italy,  165,  169 

Amsterdam,  debut,   102 

Ancona,  329,  330,  373 

Anderson,  154 

Annetta  ("Crispino  e  la  Comare"), 
169,    190 

Anniversary  celebrations:  twenty- 
fifth  (New  York),  212-214; 
(London),  228,  252,  254 

Anselmi,  373 

Arditi,  Luigi:  19,  20,  63,  95,  156, 
205,  208,  228,  237,  240,  268,  278; 
at  Craig-y-Nos,  281,  282,  285, 
286,  296,  300,  306,  311 

Arditi,  Madame,  257,  258  278 

Arimondi,  330 

Armstrong,  William,  "Patti's  Ad- 
vice to  Singers,"  262-266 

Artot,  Marguerite,  163,  164 

Auber,  112,   113,  181,   190 

Austin,  Ambrose,  236,  238,  241,  254 

Austria,  Emperor  Francis  Joseph 
of,  115,  147 

Bagier,  M.,  102,   174 
Baptismal  Piegister,  copy  of,  8 
Barili,  Antonio,  5,  13 
Barili-Patti,    Caterina :    marriage 


461 


4G2 


INDEX 


of,    to    Salvatore    Patti,    4,    5; 

daughter's  birth,  6-9,  10,  41,  42, 
120,    121 

Barili,  Clotilda.  5,  13,  16 

Barili,  Ettore:  5,  13;  first  teaches 
Adelina,  21,  22,  23,  30,  32;  be- 
gins teaching  her  roles,  42,  143, 
3.-).-} 

Barili,  Nicolo,  13 

Battenberg,  Prince  Henry  of:  visit 
of,  to  Craig-y-Nos,  295,  298 

Bauermeister,  IMlIc,  330 

Baumeister,  Karoline  ("Karo"), 
127,  128,  165,  167,  246 

Bayreuth  Festival,  370,  371 

Belletti,  158 

Benedict,  Sir  Julius,  235 

Bennett,  Joseph:  72,  73,  81,  183, 
L92;  on  Patti's  Carmen,  228, 
260;  article  by,  on  farewell,  365; 
a  curious  rule,  365,  366 

Berger,  Francesco,  326 

Berlin:    debut,  97-99,  270,  325 

Berlioz,  Hector,  112,  137 

Bernhardt,   Sarah,   123,  203 

Bettini,  154,  155 

Bevignani,  Enrico:  156;  at  Craig- 
y-Xos,  306  et  seq.;  new  changes 
for  "Una  Voce,"  307,  308 ;  at  La 
Scala,  313;  Covent  Garden  fare- 
well, 330,  331 

Bizet:  Patti's  conception  of  his 
Carmen,  225  et  scq. 

Blanc,  103,  104 

Bonetti,  301,  337 

Bonnard,  330 

Bosio,  30,  55,  63,  179,  386 

Boston:  214;  "Lakme"  produced 
in,  256;  production  of  "Gabri- 
ella,"  311 

Bottesini,  19 

Buyer.  Georges,  334 

Brandt,  Marianne,  183,  211 

Brecon,  freedom  of,  conferred,  311 

Brignoli.  48,  143,  154,  161,  210, 
212,  265 

Brozel,  Philip,  331 


Brussels,  debut,  99 
Bubna,     Augusta    de     ("Recollec- 
tions"), 34-39 
Bucharest,  265 

Kuenos  Ayres:  debut,  246,  247,  254 
Bull,  Ole,  27,  28,  34  et  seq. 
Butt,  Clara,  245,  345 
Byrne,  Charles,  311 

Calve,  227 

Calzado,   102 

Campana,  Fabio,   190 

Campanini,  Italo,  205 

Capponi,  154 

Capeul,  Victor,  155 

Carmen:  193;  debut  announced, 
221,  225;  the  impersonation, 
226,  227 ;  its  effect,  228,  229 ;  at 
New  York  (Metropolitan),  240, 
241,  379 

Caruso,  364 

Castelmary,  255,  331 

Catalani,   68 

Caterina  ("L'Etoile  du  Nord"), 
168,  169 

Caterina,  La  ("Diamants  de  la 
Couronne"),   190 

Caux,  Marquis  de:  130,  170;  mar- 
riage proposal  of,  171;  wedding 
of,  at  Clapham,  172,  173,  179, 
180,  181;  at  Covent  Garden, 
182;  separation  and  divorce 
from,   196,   198,  244,  269 

Ceccarini.  Dr.,   142 

Cederstrom,  Baron  Rolf,  346-348, 
358,  371,  372,  376,  381 

Chabrier:  232;  "Espafia"  and 
"Gwendoline"  at  Craig-y-Nos, 
319 

Charity  concerts,  Welsh:  272; 
Swansea,  273,  303,  317;  Cardiff 
(1896),  336-339;  "Land  of  My 
Fathers"  in  Welsh,  388;  Cardiff 
(1905),  362;  Patti's  affection 
and  generosity,  375,  376 

Chicago:  Auditorium  inaugurated, 
257 


INDEX 


463 


Chorley,  Henry  F.:  69,  81,  82,  83; 
early  opinions  of,  discussed,  84, 
87,  88,  109,  136,  137;  defends 
higher  fees,  146,  147,  149,  160 

Ciampi,  108,  168,  183 

Cincinnati,  Operatic  Festival  at, 
205 

Clapham:  home  life  at,  120,  124- 
126;  wedding  at,  172,  175 

Clive,  Franklin,  337 

Cohen,  Jules,  155,  190,  191 

Cole,  Belle,  335 

Consort,  the  Prince,  91,  93 

Costa,  Sir  Michael:  79,  85,  95,  96; 
Handel  Festival,  157,  173,  193 

Cotogni,  191 

Covent  Garden  Opera  House:  de- 
but, 70  et  seq.;  rentrees,  106, 
136,  149,  153,  165,  167;  roles  at, 
from  1861-1870,  168,  169;  "Co- 
alition" season,  177;  "Aula" 
produced,  185  et  seq.;  new  roles 
created  at,  190;  the  decadent 
period  of  Italian  opera,  217; 
Mapleson's  revival  (1885)  of 
Italian  Opera  at,  218  et  seq.; 
his  season  opens,  223 ;  "Carmen" 
debut,  226  et  seq.;  Patti's  fare- 
well performances  projected,  321, 
323,  324;  the  series  (1895)  be- 
gins, 326  et  seq.;  and  ends,  331; 
complete  list  of  Patti  operas  pre- 
sented at,  332,  349,  350 

Craig-y-Nos  Castle:  196;  position 
and  features  of,  230;  the  or- 
chestrion and  its  owner,  231; 
dinner  customs  at,  232,  233;  the 
private  theatre,  270;  description 
of  theatre,  275;  opening  festivi- 
ties, 277  et  seq.;  a  journey  to, 
278,  279,  280;  rehearsing,  281; 
inaugural  address  and  perform- 
ance, 283  et  seq.;  a  youthful 
hostess,  288 ;  her  dancing,  etc., 
289;  an  operatic  matinee,  290; 
Patti's  disposition  and  habits, 
292;  daily  life  at,  293,  294;  an 


unexpected     arrival     at,     294; 
shooting     with     Nicolini,     295; 
Prince    Henry    of    Battenberg's 
visit,   295,   298;    wordless   plays 
introduced      at,      296;      staging 
"Bluebeard"    and    "La    Tosca," 
297,    298;    Sardou    in    tableaux 
vivants,    302 ;    at    Christmastide 
(1892),     306;     "Pagliacci"     de- 
clined, 306;  the  new  "Una  voce" 
changes,    307;    Patti's    "Panet- 
tone"  impromptu,  309 ;   her  tal- 
ent  for   improvization,   309;    re- 
turn    (1893)     to,    314;    summer 
of   1894,   317;   Patti   sings  Gou- 
nod's "Ave  Maria"  to  Wilhelmj's 
obligato,      318;       Christmastide 
(1894),    321;    discussing    opera 
plans,       322-324;        mime-play, 
"Mirka,"    333;    mime-play,    "Le 
Malheur     d'un     Peintre,"     338; 
Nicolini's    last    "Romeo,"    338; 
freedom     of     Brecon     conferred, 
341;  mourning  for  Nicolini,  344; 
marriage     at,     to     Baron     Rolf 
Cederstrom,   347 ;   foreign  tours, 
348;    the    end    of    the    epilogue, 
371;  declining  health  and  death, 
376;     temporary    interment    in 
London,  376 

Crossley,  Ada,  374 

Cruvelli,  Sophie,  193 

Crystal   Palace,   157,   344 

Csillag,   85 

Cummings,  W.  H.,  155,  158,  326 

Cusins,  Sir  W,  G.,  154,  236 

Damrosch,  Dr.  Leopold,  211,  213 

Darclee,  249,  251 

D'Arry,  Vicomte,  171,  173 

Davies,  Ben,  374 

Davies,   Ffrangcon,   337 

Davison,  James,  32,  69,  80,  88,  100, 

139,  144,  151,  153,  160,  161,  175, 

193 
DeAnna,  212 
DeLucia,  328,  329 


4G4 


INDEX 


Decorations,  list  of,  377 

Delibes,  "Lakme"  in  America,  250 

Del   Puente,  205,  228 

Delle  Sedie,  95,  10S 

Deademona     (Rossini's    "Otello"), 

103 
Dickens,  Charles:  Eulogy  of  Patti, 

90 
Dinorah  ("Pardon  de  Ploi:rmel")  : 

55;    at   Covent  Garden    (1862), 

108;  Hanslick's  study  of  Patti's, 

11(5,  117,  148,  160 
Dolby,  Sainton-,  158,  162 
Dolores,  at  Nice,  340 
Donizetti,   152 
Dotti,  228 
Drasdil,   155 
Dresden,  325 

Drury  Lane  Theatre,  237 
Dublin,  97 

Eames,  Emma,  253 

Edwards,  Sutherland,  69,  125,  173, 

189 
Eissler,  Marianne  and  Clara,  301, 

314.   317,   318,  337 
Elvira    ("Puritani"),   50,    169 
Elvira   ("Ernani"),  50,  193,  194 
Engel,  22S 
Esmeralda,  190 
Estella,  190 

Fabbri,  Guerrina,  255 

Earinelli,  245 

Faure,  85,  108,  140,  149,  152,  155, 

164,  168,  174,  177,  183,  250 
Festivals : 

Birmingham,  95-97 

Handel,  157-161 

Cincinnati,  204 
Finck,  Henry  T.,  on  "longevity  of 

Patti's  voice,"  266,  267 
Fischof,  Jules,  128 
Florence,  165,  314 
Fohstrom,  Alma.  223 
Foli,  158,  236,  248,  270 
Formes,  Carl,  85 


Franchi,    198,   202,   203,   204,   207, 

210,  235 
Frankfort,    gala    performance    at, 

147 
French,   Emperor  and  Empress  of 

the,  112,  171,  173,  181 
Frezzolini,  177 
Fry,  Edward,  11 
Fursch-Madi,  205 


Gabriella,  311 

Gailhard:  249;  visit  of,  to  Craig- 
y-Xos,  249-251 

Galassi,  205,  240,  312 

Galli-Marie,  227 

Ganz,  Wilhelm,  197,  274,  301,  317, 
321,  337,  338,  345,  369,  375 

Garcia,  Manuel:  84,  183;  on  Pat- 
ti's Rosina,  22"> 

Gardoni,  95,  109,  155 

Gassier,  95 

Gelmina,  190 

Gerster,  Etelka.  207,  208 

Gilda,  50,  55,   169 

Giovanna  d'Arco,  177 

Giuglini,  57,  95,  113 

Glanby.  Rev.  G.,  197 

Gottschalk,  Louis  M.,  41,  42,  56 

Gounod:  112,  113;  '-Faust"  in 
London,  140;  revival,  149;  "Ave 
Maria."  162;  "Romeo."  in  Ital- 
ian, 168;  conducts  "Romeo"  (in 
French)  at  Paris  Ope>a,  248- 
253;  "Ave  Maria"  at  Craig-y- 
Xos,  318 

Gramophone  records,  364 

Grau,  Maurice,  67,  253,  254,  255, 
310,  357,  358 

Grau,  Robert,   357.  358 

Graziani,  82,  140,  145.  154,  155, 
161,  164.  193 

Grisi.  Giulia:  5,  57,  59,  65,  66; 
farewells  in  "Don  Giovanni,"  85, 
87,  108.  118,  138,  147,  173,  181, 
193,  378 

Guille,   310 


INDEX 


465 


Gye,  Ernest  and  Herbert,  204,  206, 
215 

Gye,  Frederick :  57,  58,  59,  60 ;  en- 
gages Patti  for  Covent  Garden, 
60-62,  64;  the  ratified  contract, 
77,  78,  79,  82;  the  great  "Don 
Giovanni"  cast,  85-87,  88,  92, 
95,  105,  106,  109,  110,  113,  138; 
engages  Carlotta,  144,  145,  149, 
152;  gives  first  "Patti"  concert, 
161,  163,  165,  166,  167,  168,  176; 
"coalition"  season  (1869),  177; 
183,  186,  191;  value  of  his  ad- 
vice, 192;  death,  193,  199,  215, 
217 


Hague,  The,  debut,  102 

Hamburg,  first  appearance  in 
"Faust,"  148 

Hanslick,  Dr.  Eduard:  3,  4,  17,  29, 
44;  study  of  Dinorah,  116,  117, 
268 

Harris,  Sir  Augustus:  95,  172,  237, 
241,  277;  visits  Craig-y-Nos 
Castle,  301;  interrupts  a  re- 
hearsal, 302;  a  professional 
opinion,  303,  322;  plans  Patti's 
Covent  Garden  farewell,  322  et 
seq.;  their  meeting,  324;  the  in- 
augural night,  326  et  seq.,  329 

Harrison,  Percy:  254,  277,  278, 
301,  314,  323,  335,  346,  349,  363; 
benefit  concert,  373;  letter  from, 
374 

Harrison's  Subscription  Concerts 
(Birmingham),  254,  374 

Hauk,  Minnie,  205,  227,  240 

Her  Majesty's  Theatre,  241 

Hersee,  Henry,  69 

Herz,  Henri,   14,   142 

Hollman,  Joseph,  270 

Homburg,  debut,  103 

"Home,  sweet  home,"  162,  237, 
288,  315,  321,  326,  360,  367,  379 

Hueffer,  Dr.  Franz,  32 

Hulley,  298 


Irving,  Sir  Henry,  278 

Jahn,  Otto,  86 

Johnson,  Thomas,   197,  278 

Jones,  Hirwen,  337,  339 

Juliette:  in  Italian  (Giulietta)  at 
Covent  Garden,  169,  183-185, 
190;  first  time  in  America,  207; 
in  French  at  Paris  Opera,  248- 
253;  the  new  Juliette,  252;  at 
Craig-y-Nos  Castle,  290,  313, 
323,  338;  last  time  at  Covent 
Garden,  349 

Kingston,  Wm.  Beatty,  278,  283, 
291 

Krehbiel,  H.  E.,  10,  211,  212,  213, 
353 

Kuhe,  William:  64;  story  of  Co- 
vent Garden  contract,  77,  78; 
on  concert  debut  in  England,  96, 
189;  cited  on  a  "Faust"  recital 
and  other  events,  235,  258,  259, 
263 

Lago,  234 

Lakme,  256 

Lassalle,  195 

Lauw,  Fraulein,  121,  127  et  seq., 
171 

Lawson,  Sir  Edward  (Lord  Burn- 
ham),  278,  283,  291 

Lehmann,  Lilli,  23 

Lely,  Durward,  285,  288,  290,  301, 
312,  317 

Lemmens- Sherrington,  158,  168 

Lenepveu,  Charles,  190 

Leoncavallo,  "Pagliacci"  on  the 
piano  at  Craig-y-Nos,  306,  307 

Leon-Duval,  166 

Leonora  ("II  Trovatore")  :  50,  55; 
first  time  in  London,  137,  169; 
on  twenty-fifth  anniversary,  229 

Levilly,  Charles,  210,  220,  234 

Lewis,  Sir  George,  364 

Lille,  Comte  de,  278 

Lincoln,  Henry,  69 


*m 


INDEX 


Lind,  Jenny:  24,  30,  52,  56,  65, 
84,  147,  273,  373,  378;  mutual 
admiration  of,  and  Patti,  381 

Linda  ("di  Chamouni")  :  50,  152- 
153;  at  Covent  Garden,  153,  169, 
211 

Lloyd,  Edward,  158,  236,  248,  335, 
345,  350 

Loubet,  President,  362 

Lucea,  Pauline:  66;  visit  to,  in 
Berlin,  98,  99,  140,  148;  Mar- 
guerite criticised,  149;  com- 
pared, 150-152,  154,  155,  161, 
163,  164,  165,  187;  Selikas  com- 
pared, 195,  196,  227 

Lucia  ("di  Lammermoor")  :  debut 
in  New  York,  47  et  seq.,  50;  first 
London  season,  79,  81,  82,  153, 
166,  169;  second  American  tour, 
205,  240,  265,  266;  last  sung  in 
New  York,  311,  323 

Luisa  Miller,  194 

Lumley,  Benjamin,  56 

Lussan,  Zelie  de,  227 


Maas,  Joseph,  155 

Maeintyre,  Margaret,  331 

Madrid:  birth  at,  7;  debut,  148; 
season  1865,  153,  246 

Malibran,  66,  68,  87,  147,  181,  225, 
245 

Manchester,  Duke  of,  173 

Mancinelli,  Luigi,  329 

Manners,  Charles,  331 

Manns,  Sir  August,  345 

Manzocchi,  43,  50 

Mapleson,  James  H.:  48;  engages 
Patti  for  London  (1861),  57,  58, 
59;  interview  on  arrival,  60; 
contract  cancelled,  61,  95,  105, 
166;  "coalition"  season,  177; 
Nilsson's  fee,  19!);  first  Ameri- 
can negotiations,  203,  204,  205; 
second  American  tour,  205,  207 ; 
third.  207,  208;  fourth,  209  et 
seq.;  financial  results,  214;  sues 


Nicolini  at  New  York,  214; 
treatment  of  Patti  by,  215;  his 
contracts  with  her,  215;  the  re- 
hearsal question,  216;  attempts 
Italian  revival  at  Covent  Gar- 
den, 218;  a  contract  with  Patti, 
220,  221,  252;  bankruptcy,  230; 
benefit  at  Drury  Lane,  237,  242, 
247,  381 

Maretzek,  Max,  11,  24,  25,  43,  213 

Marguerite  ("Faust")  :  Hamburg 
(1863),  148;  Covent  Garden 
(1864),  150  et  seq.,  168,  169, 
240;  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle,  286- 
289 

Maria  ("Figlia  del  Reggimento"), 
138,   139,   140,   169 

Marimon,  Marie,  182 

Mario:  57,  59;  in  famous  "Bar- 
biere"  revival,  87,  88,  138;  in 
"Faust,"  149,  152,  153,  161,  166; 
in  "Romeo,"  167,  172,  173;  in 
"Don  Giovanni,"  177,  184;  fare- 
well, 191,  252 

Martha:  50,  55,  87,  89,  97,  169, 
212,  240;  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle, 
290 

Mascagni,  305 

Masini,   186,   244,  246 

Mater na,  211 

Mattei,  Tito,  301,  337 

Maurel.  Victor,   155,   194,  331 

Mayer,  Marcus:  245,  246,  311; 
final  American  tour,  356,  357, 
358 

Maynard,  M.,  197 

Mel'ba,  Nellie:  245,  253,  306,  327; 
Patti  and,  compared,  352,  353, 
364 

Merelli,  102,  113,  147,  148 

Merimee,  Prosper,  226 

Mexico  City,  255,  258 

Meyerbeer,  264 

Mierzwinsky,    205 

Milan:  at  La  Scala,  with  Nicolini, 
202;  Verdi  at,  performances, 
313 


INDEX 


467 


Miolan-Carvalho:  66,  109,  140, 
148;    Marguerite  compared,    150 

Monbelli,  155 

Mongini,  193 

Monte  Carlo:  334;  a  French  son- 
net, 339 

Munck,  Chevalier  Ernest  de,  146 

Murska,  lima  di,  182 

Muzio,  45,  46,  47 

Naudin,  168 

Neri-Baraldi,   164 

Netherlands,  Crown  Prince  of,  181 

New  Orleans,  debut,  55 

New  York:  concert  debut  as  child- 
prodigy,  24;  operatic  debut,  48, 
49,  50;  concert  reappearance 
(1881),  203;  in  opera  (1882), 
204  et  seq.,  (1883),  206,  (1884), 
210,  (1886),  238  et  seq.;  opera 
at  the  Metropolitan,  239;  last 
operatic  appearance  at  (1892), 
310,  311;  concerts  (1893),  311; 
arrival  on  final  tour,  358 ;  open- 
ing concert,  359;  farewell  ap- 
pearance, 360 

Nice:  270,  313,  314;  operatic  tri- 
umphs (1895),  323;  "Mirka"  at, 
334 

Nicolini,  Ernest:  130,  155;  Lon- 
don debut,  165,  166,  167,  183; 
succeeds  Mario  as  Romeo,  184, 
185;  Radames  in  "Aida"  pro- 
duction, 189,  195;  marriage  with 
Patti,  196,  199;  increases  her 
fees,  199  et  seq.;  with  Patti  at 
La  Scala,  202;  first  American 
tour,  203;  engaged  by  Maple- 
son,  204,  205;  Romeo  in  New 
York,  207,  212,  214;  Mapleson's 
London  contract  with,  219;  with 
Patti  receives  the  Author,  221- 
226,  232,  233,  235;  as  Almaviva 
at  Drury  Lane,  237 ;  discusses 
South  America,  244;  the  first 
tour,  245,  252,  253,  274;  at 
Craig-y-Nos      Castle,      280-282, 


286;  Romeo  at  home,  286;  a 
shooting  adventure,  294,  295, 
300,  301 ;  last  time  at  Swansea, 
317;  his  collection  of  old  vio- 
lins, 318,  319,  322,  324,  337; 
failing  health,  341;  death  at 
Pau,  343;  character  and  influ- 
ence, 343,  344,  348 

Nicolini,  Richard,  304 

Nilsson,  Christine,  66,  155,  163, 
174;  in  "Don  Giovanni"  with 
Patti,  177,  182;  fees  of  Patti 
and,  compared,  199,  200;  op- 
posed to  Patti  in  America,  206; 
friendship  and  sympathy  of,  and 
Patti,  381 

~Sinetta  ("Gazza  Ladra"),  138, 
207 

Nordica,  Lillian,  255 

Xorina  ("Don  Pasquale"),  50,  110, 
138,  169 

Novara,  Franco,  240,  256,  2S6,  287, 
290,  296,  311,  312 

Novello,  Clara,  157.  158,  159 

"Nozze  di  Figaro,"  a  promise  un- 
redeemed, 163,  164 

Operas  sung  by  Patti,  List  of,  332 

Paderewski,  270 

Palmo,  Ferdinand,  9 

Paravelli,  Sgra.,  22,  32 

Parepa-Rosa,  154,   158 

Paris:  debut,  112;  first  European 
interview,  117-119;  season  of 
1864-5,  152;  at  Mario's  flat, 
167;  reception  at  Hotel  du  Rhin, 
181;  mime-play,  "Mirka,"  334, 
354;  Legion  d'Honneur  con- 
ferred, 362;  last  stage  perform- 
ance, 373 

Pasta,  25,  68,  117,  181,  193,  245 

Patey,  Madame,  158,  248,  314 

Patti,  Amalia  (Rtrakosch)  :  6,  13, 
14,  16;  marries  Strakosch,  25, 
45,   143,   179,   181 

Patti,  Carlina,  246 


468 


INDEX 


Patti,  Carlo,  5 

Patti,  Carlotta:  6,  14,  43;  first 
visit  to  England,  141 ;  lameness, 
111  142;  studies  and  early  ca- 
reer, 142,  143,  144;  London 
debut,  144,  14.3 ;  the  sisters  com- 
pared,   145,    168,   181 

Patti.  Salvatore:  birth,  4;  mar- 
riage, 5;  in  New  York,  9,  10; 
director  of  Astor  Place  Opera 
House,  10,  11,  17,  18;  brings  out 
his  child-prodigy,  23  et  seq.,  26, 
41 ;  first  operatic  tour,  53  et  seq., 
82,  120;  the  Chancery  hoax,  130, 
135,  165,  167;  the  Caux  mar- 
riage, 172;  death,  179,  191,  108 

"Patti  v.  Patti,"  a  Chancery  hoax, 
130;  the  plaintiff's  affidavit,  135 

Penco,  107 

Persiaui,  147 

Petrograd  (St.  Petersburg),  176 

Philadelphia:  207,  312;  meeting 
with  Prince  of  Wales  at,  373 

Piatti,  Alfredo,  253 

Piccolomini,  44,  57 

Philharmonic  Society,  gold  medal 
presented  by,  326 

Pini-Corsi,  330,  331 

Pizzi,  Emilio,  "Gabriella"  in  Bos- 
ton, 311,  312 

Plancon,  327 

Pogliagno,  9 

Pollonnais,  Andre:  "Mirka,"  334; 
"Dolores"  at  Nice,  340 

Poniatowski,  Prince,  190 

Popper,  David,  335 


Rachel,  74,  138,  201 

Ravelli,  205,  25.-) 

Ravogli,  Giulia,  327  < 

Reeves,  Sims,  1 58,  236,  270,  379 

Reszke,  Edouard  de,  155,  191,  235, 

327,  373 
Reszke,    Jean    de:     189,    248;     as 

Romeo    (Paris,   1888),  249,  327, 

373 


Reuter,  Baron  and  Baroness  de. 
278 

Richter,  Dr.  Hans,  272 

Ricordi,  Giulio  di,   187,  313 

Rigby,  Vernon,  158 

Kigo*  Frank,  288 

Uistori,  201 

Rome,   165 

Ronconi,  85,  153,  154,  164,  168,  190 

Rosa,  Carl,  158,  218 

Rosina  ("Barbiere  di  Siviglia")  : 
50,  55 ;  first  London  season,  87- 
89,  101,  110,  140,  147,  148,  153, 
169;  American  tour  (1884), 
211;  Garcia's  estimate,  225;  at 
Mapleson's  benefit  (Drury 
Lane),  237;  last  in  New  York, 
311,  313,  323;  Covcnt  Garden 
farewell,  330,  332;  last  stage 
performance,  373 

Rossini:  Patti's  changes  and  em- 
bellishments, 88,  137;  her  Semi- 
ramidc,  173,  174;  she  sings  at 
his  funeral,  174;  his  friendship, 
175;  "Bel  raggio"  changes  and 
cadenzas,  194,  225,  373 

Rothschild,  Alfred  de,  80,  234,  278 

Royston,  Lord,  299 

Ru'dersdorff,  108 

Ryan,  Desmond,  senr.,  69 

Ryan,  Desmond,  junr.,  260 


Saint-Amand,  Baron  de,  171,  173 

Sainton,  Prosper,  162 

Suit  Lake  City,  visit  to,  208 

San    Francisco,    "Patti    epidemic" 

in,  208,  209 
Sanquirico,   9,    10 
Santley,  Sir  Charles,  154,  158,  236, 

335,"  345,  374 
Scalchi,  194,  205,  212,  240 
Sehoeffel,  John  B.,  206 
Schiirmann  and  Pollini,  247 
Scola,  143 

Selika  ("L'Africaine"),  195 
Sembrich,     Marcella:      163;     New 


INDEX 


469 


York  debut,  206,  235;  compared, 
352,  359,  374 

Scmiramidc,  173,  194,  205,  211, 
240 

Sinico,  0,  7 

Smith,  E.  T.,  57,  58,  50,  60,  95 

Sontag,  Henrietta,  30,  40,  66,  68, 
139,  181 

Spalding,  Augustus  F.  M. :  246, 
274;  reflections,  286,  292,  297, 
298,  337 

State  Concerts:  92,  93,  94,  154; 
list  of  appearances  (1865-1886), 
154,  155,  329 

Steinway,  William,  213 

Sterling,  Antoinette,  270,  301 

Stockhausen,  155 

Stolz,  Teresina,  186 

Strakosch,  Maurice:  13;  meets  the 
Pattis  in  New  York,  15,  21; 
story  of  his  career,  25-27 ;  mar- 
ried to  Amalia  Patti,  25,  28; 
first  concert  tour  with  Adelina, 
27;  share  in  her  training,  29-32, 
33,  41,  42,  43,  44,  46,  47,  50; 
first  operatic  tour,  53-56;  ne- 
gotiations with  Mapleson,  57, 
58;  arrival  in  London  with 
Patti,  59;  Mapleson's  cancelled 
contract,  60;  first  contract  for 
Covent  Garden,  61,  69;  terms  of 
renewal,  77  et  seq.,  82,  95,  97; 
first  continental  tour,  98  et  seq., 
102;  Patti's  growing  fees,  102, 
103,  111,  120;  understudy  at  re- 
hearsals, 125,  126,  128;  re 
Chancery  hoax,  130-136,  143, 
160,  165,  167;  the  Caux  mar- 
riage, 172;  his  Rossini  orna- 
ments, 175 ;  on  prima  donnas 
and  husbands,  179;  separates 
from  Patti,  180,  191,  198;  the 
fee  question,  200,  201 ;  organizes 
Italian  tour,  201 ;  the  rehearsal 
proviso  with  Mapleson,  216; 
death,  242;  appreciation  of  the 
man  and  his  "Souvenirs,"   242, 


243;    an   old   dinner   invitation, 

366 
Sullivan,  Sir  Arthur:  366;  Jenny 

Lind's  appreciation,  381 
Sweden,  King  and  Queen  of,  348 

Tagliafico,  71,  85,  86 

Tamagno,  244,  246,  255,  327,  364 

Tamberlik,  85,   140 

Ternina,  Milka,  304 

Terriss,    William,    278,    283,    284, 

285,  291 
Thalberg,  44 
Thalberg,  Zare,  155 
Thouless,  A.  H.,  183 
Tiberini,  82 
Tietjens,   Theresa:    57,  65,  66,  95, 

97,  105,  150,   155,  158,  159,  163, 

173;    in    "Don    Giovanni"    with 

Patti,  177,  182,  194 
Trebelli-Bettini,  154,  155,  182 

Ullmann,  44,  45,  47 

Valda,  Giulia,  286,  287,  290,  290 

Valentino,  ("Les  Huguenots")  :  54, 
55;  at  Covent  Garden,  191;  in 
America,  208 

Valleria,  Alwina,  191 

Vanderbilt,  William  H.,  206 

Vaughan,  Father  Bernard,  374 

Velleda,  190 

Verdi:  111,  116;  Paris  revival  of 
"Giovanna  d'Arco,"  177;  "Aula" 
produced  at  Covent  Garden,  187 
et  seq.;  "Otello"  in  America, 
256;  witnesses  "La  Traviata"  at 
La  Scala,  313;  "Otello"  and 
"Falstafl"'  at  Covent  Garden, 
327,  279 

Vianesi,  156 

Victoria,  Queen:  91,  92,  93,  94; 
Patti  sings  before,  at  Bucking- 
ham Palace,  329,  330;  Diamond 
Jubilee  celebrated,  341,  342 

Vienna:    78;    debut,    113;    an    ex* 


470 


INDEX 


perience  in,  114,  115;  another, 
265,  323 

Vilda,   156 

Yiolctta  ('La  Traviata")  :  50; 
first  London  season,  82  et  seq., 
10(»,  165,  160;  in  America,  205, 
207,  208;  Mapleson's  Covent 
Garden  season,  223,  225,  240;  at 
Her  Majesty's,  241,  207;  at 
Craig-y-Nos,  286,  287;  at  La 
Scala  before  Verdi,  313,  323; 
farewell  appearance  at  Covent 
Garden,  328;  emotions.  328;  a 
jewelled  costume,  328,  329,  332 

Visits  to  Patti  (the  Author's),  in 
London  (introduction)  :  223- 
226;  at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle,  277 
et  seq.,  300,  306,  337 

Vivian,  Sir  Hussey  (Lord  Swan- 
sea), 230,  272,  274,  278,  288 

Vivian,  Mr.  Graham,  230,  295,  298, 
299 

Wachtel,  108 

Waldmann,  186 

Warmer:  232,  268,  317;  Patti  es- 
says "Triiume,"  314-316;  Eliza- 
beth's "Prayer,"  316,  317;  Wil- 
helmj  plays  "Preislied"  at 
Craig-y-Nos,  318;  a  provincial 
furore,  319;  letters  on  Bayreuth, 
a  visit  to  Wahnfried,  371,  372; 


Hichter's  appreciation,  372,  380 

Wales,  The  Prince  of  (King  Ed- 
ward VII),  218,  327,  329.  350, 
373 

Wales,  The  Princess  of  (Queen 
Alexandra),  189,  327,  350 

Watts,  George,  235 

Weiss,    158 

Wilhelm  I,  Emperor,  98,  204 

Wilhelmj,  August:  visits  Craig-y- 
Nos  Castle,  317;  plays  "Preis- 
lied," 318 

Winter,  William,  213 

Wolff,  Johannes,  270 

Wordless-  or  Mime-Plays:  intro- 
duced at  Craig-y-Nos  Castle. 
296;  "Mirka."  333  et  seq.;  "East 
Lynne,"  334;  "Le  Malheur  d'un 
Peintre,"  338 

Wynne,  Edith,  158 

York,  Duke  and  Duchess  of  (King 
George  V  and  Queen  Mary),  327 
Young,  Brigham,  visit  to,  208 

Zerlina  ("Don  Giovanni")  :  50; 
first  London  season,  85-87,  101, 
107,  108,  136,  169;  "Coalition" 
east,  177;  a  personal  recollec- 
tion. 182;  in  America.  205.  225; 
Covent  Garden  farewell,  330 

Zimmermann,  Emmy,  183 


i   ir" 


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